Last week, a couple in Wyoming filed a lawsuit against Aaron’s Rent to Own. The couple, Crystal and Brian Byrd, is citing an invasion of privacy. The suit was filed after it was revealed that the company had installed spyware in the rented computers. The software was able to record keystrokes, monitor private communication, and even TAKE PICTURES REMOTELY of the users using the webcam. The couple was made aware of the spyware only after an Aaron’s employee showed them a picture of them using the computer. (Aaron’s was trying to reposses the computer because they thought the Byrd’s were behind on their payment. The couple had actually paid their bill in full and were not in committing any violation.) However, the employee did not inform the couple of how the picture was obtained. But ”the couple’s lawsuit alleges that pop-up boxes regularly appeared on the rented machine, claiming they needed to “register” software. Each time that happened, the suit claims, a Webcam image of them was taken without their knowledge, and transmitted to a firm that managed tracking software for the rental company.”
I can’t imagine how this couple must feel. From the point of the company, I can understand having software tracking general use of the computer or the computer’s location. Being able to track the computer would ensure that the company is able to find it’s property, as well as prove that a computer was in use despite a customer being behind on his payments. But they flat out cross the line when it comes to secretly photographing their customers in their home. A person’s home is supposed to be their “sanctuary” of sorts, where they are free from the intrusion of others, free from the public eye.
I feel like this situation is just the tip of the iceberg. How long has this been going on? How many other companies out there engage in the same spying activities? Who’s to say that the computers in the library don’t have the same type of spyware on them, tracking students?
As i was reading this article i couldn’t help but look at my webcam light to make sure it didn’t turn on to take pictures of me, yes I’m paranoid, but this article really gives me a reason to be. It seems so bizarre that a company can be given the right to monitor a persons every move on the computer that they rented to them, for the given time that the rental is out the person rentee should not be monitored by the company because for that time it is in their possession and their property. I hope that this couple can sue the hell out of this company because it seems like such a violation of their rights, if the company had installed a camera in the couples home they would have no right and there would be no question of the violation, but because it was on a laptop that was rented to them the company somehow feels they were entitled to monitor their rentals by such means which to me is preposterous. When you’re in the comfort of your home you want to feel as if you are safe, if this company is allowed to do this and get away with it then it will make privacy impossible. My laptop was given to me through the Baruch Honors department, and now i wonder if they monitor from time to time what their computer is doing. Even if this technology was only meant for use when an item was missing or a rentee failed a payment in the wrong hands it can be a very dangerous weapon.
When I read about the computers recording keystrokes, I thought of all those companies whose email lists were hacked. Keystrokes on a home’s computer may include credit card numbers and even bank account passwords. If these databases were hacked or stolen by a disgruntled employee, all those resident’s financial and personal information would be at risk! This is extremely deceptive to record this information and take pictures of the individuals without their knowledge. I believe this situation is equivalent of putting in hidden cameras in the people’s apartments. Though the residents pay rent for the place, they have a right to privacy and like you said, “a home should be considered a sanctuary”, not somewhere where you cannot even feel safe.
This post makes me think of our debate of social media sites, such as Facebook, tracking information and storing it. Why do they need this information? Why did the apartment renters need this information? Is tracking the information in people’s emails worth it to get some money from their ad clicks? Now that their plan backfired, this company is being sued and their reputation may be permanently ruined. Was this worth it?