Researchers of computer systems from the Canadian University of Gwelph found that electronics repair services do not use effective confidentiality protocols, and technical specialists often monitor customer data.
Scientists conducted a survey 18 services for repairing equipment in North America. Representatives of these firms were interviewed to determine if they have a privacy policy and how they treat customer data.
employees were invited to replace the ASUS UX330U laptop battery under the control of Windows 10 – a correction that does not require accounting for entering or accessing the operating system. However, 17 out of 18 companies requested accounting data for the entrance.
At the same time, none of the service providers informed customers about their confidentiality, client rights, or how to protect his data. After the repair, only 3 national and 3 regional companies proposed to sign a document with the conditions. It is noteworthy that in these agreements the company refused liability for any data loss.
Further, the researchers provided masters with falsified Windows laptops with fictitious data to check how employees use devices. 6 out of 16 specialists monitored customer data and copied customer data to external devices.
One technician did this to avoid collecting evidence against himself, and three others in order to hide his activities. Device magazines show that the craftsmen tried to hide their tracks by deleting the elements in “quick access” or “last access to files” in Microsoft Windows.
Safety researcher and co -author of the article by Jason Cecia said that experts mainly looked at customer photos, search history or financial data. Moreover, the online survey of users showed that about 30% of broken devices are not repaired due to their fears of their owners about confidentiality.
The evaluated repair shops were not indicated in the study and were not informed about the conclusions of researchers. According to scientists, regulatory authorities should pay attention to the electronics industry and clarify the rules of confidentiality for repair shops.