skip to main content

Geek Squad privacy invasions an issue?

9 years ago

After using Geek Squad to do a "tune up" on line it occurred to us to wonder whether they now are able to access our computer without our permission, and whether they might have roamed around in it while optimizing. We did not stay with the computer while they did their stuff, but they had no way of knowing that.

So: any reason to be concerned?

Thanks,

Mark

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (8)

mikie_gw
9 years ago
Most likely no worry...

How did they remote to you with with windows or something like TeamViewer. Uninstall the 3rd party program? Windows standard remote assistance will expire after x hours.. but a crook could make it always available too.

I fix some pc's remotely. Once had a girl tell me she felt uncomfortable that I could see all her pictures and private stuff. I asked her quickly if she had any good nudes or porn. That would be the only thing that might distract or catch my attention. She said Oh.. you wont like my pictures then. Its ok if you look.

This post was edited by mikie on Thu, Jun 19, 14 at 16:12
emma
9 years ago
It will probably be okay, most people are honest.

I bought a new PC at Best Buy one time and when I got up to the cashiers station to pay for it, the box has been opened. I said it's been opened and the sales person said the Geek Squad set it up for you and installed protection for an additional $150. I guess he saw the look on my face and said at no charge to you. I said now it is used. I want one in a sealed box, they looked at me like I was crazy. It could have been a return for all I know. They could have put something on there that enabled them to get in. I know one salesman told he went into help forums like this and gave instructions that would mess up someone's computer. I know you all would have stopped him but the idea was he was not trust worthy. I will let companies like HP come on, but not just anyone.

This post was edited by EmmaR on Thu, Jun 19, 14 at 16:47
Related Discussions
new here with yard/garden issues!
Q
Comments (18)
Jan, Well, while .35" was nice, I wish it could have been 3.5"! Any rain is good and y'all get so little of it. I heard parts of Beaver County were without power today after as storm took out power lines and power poles. What a day to have the power out! I wouldn't complain about losing the power for a day or two if it came with good, hard rain that would make a big difference. I don't know if they got that kind of rain or if they just got wind and a little rain. Of course, having the power out is uncomfortable in this heat and has the potential to be downright deadly. Miraje, He really doesn't mind the drive. He's a police officer, so in his younger days when he worked the streets he drove all day or all night at work anyway. Now that he's chained to a desk most of the time, maybe the long drive makes up for not being out in a squad car very often. Tim does watch the development of commuter train lines in the D-FW area with great interest. The train finally made it as far north as Denton this year. Of course, he'd ride the train if it ever could come as far north as Gainesville, but I figure he'll be retired long before that happens. Plus, his crazy hours are non-traditional and the commuter trains cater to people with more normal hours. We knew when we moved here that he'd likely work at least 20 more years and would have a long commute "forever" but accepted it as part of the price you pay if you choose to move way out into the country. We've been here 13 years now, and when we moved here, once you left the northern edge of Fort Worth, you were "in the country" for the rest of the drive. Since then, they've built the speedway and all that development has happened around it and really all the way up I-35. I'm glad we moved out as far from Dallas-Fort Worth as we did because even Denton is getting huge and Gainesville is growing faster than I ever thought it would. I wonder how much longer people like us who want to live on a few country acres will be able to find a few acres to buy. Dawn
...See More
What are these people thinking?! -- My new Silestone
Q
Comments (37)
2 words...mineral spirits. We use it to clean so many marks off of so many things and it works wonderfully. Just wash afterward. It's also ideal for removing stubborn stuck on price tags....for those of you with olefin or polypropylene carpets, you can use mineral spirits to remove spots from that as well. As far as front door/back door, if I had to keep everyone out of the house who might leave dirt on my floor, I'd have to turn the garden shed into a room for DH...he is by far the worst offender....more so than any contractors here. He's the reason I keep a basket of shoe covers in the mud room....not that they get used as often as I'd like. (As indestructible as olefin is, he's managed to damage mine...put a drop light down on it when he was working on something and melted it!) He's a big part of the reason why we have vinyl instead of hardwood in our house now. Of course I cracked up at the cable guy who was here, very dutifully putting his booties on his boots and then proceeding to traipse back and forth to his truck without taking them on and off.... Almost everyone comes to my front door. On the rare occasion that the garage door is open and someone comes into the garage and knocks on that door, I wonder, "What the heck is that?!?" Except for when I had the remodeler building the steps and shelves at my garage entry door...he kept hammering and I kept answering the door! But damage through negligence is a whole 'nother thing. My GF had her kitchen counters damaged when the guy was cutting vinyl tile on it without wood or other material to protect it. No excuse for that.
...See More
public notice
Q
Comments (18)
I used to help out in these forums all the time back when it was still privately owned. As soon as iVillage bought it, the popups started. Firefox was still very new, and even though I was using it, I was still getting annoying popups. Hell, I had cheeseburgers sizzling across the screen for awhile from the Burger King popups. The original website owner had a member fee to avoid the popups which I had paid, but iVillage didnt care, they started spamming us all. There were complaint threads every day in the busy forums, and I even started a few to get myself thrown off the boards permanently. (GardenWeb was quite addictive, I didnt think I could go cold turkey on my own) I check in here once in awhile, but prefer other forums these days. Im surprised GardenWeb has even lasted after annoying the hell out of all the members when iVillage took over. And after they drove away so many pro's, the DIY crowd would dole out terrible advice and get real pissy when they were challenged. That's another reason I left.
...See More
converting lawn into forest
Q
Comments (33)
Viper, stocking recommendations for "afforestation", that is, planting a forest where none currently exists, is right around 900 trees/acre, with the understanding that the finish stand will not have this much density. IOW's, you plan for some not making it. If you insist-not saying you do, but if-on larger-dimension stock, you will be forced to plant fewer trees per acre, as well as spend much more $$. Maybe it's just because I've done a fair amount of afforestation and had almost unbelievably good results thus far, I'd advocate going with seedlings or plugstock materials. I kid you not-trees we planted two springs back-these things were quite a bit smaller than a new #2 pencil-are in many cases already up above the "weed layer", so IOW's, pushing 4 and 5 feet! I even saw one of my larch from that planting, already broomhandle sized, was attractive enough to a buck deer to now be little more than a roughed-up stick. 2 years in the ground! Now every species will not put on height increment the way hybrid larch does, but my pines are doing very nearly as well, with only spruce seeming to take longer to get started. And even among my spruce from earlier years' plantings, many put on 4 ft. of height growth last year and just as much the year before! So once they do get established, they're very fast to grow as well. You of course, mention other species but I offer this just to showcase some very rapid growth, again, from very tiny starter plants. +oM
...See More
ajames54
9 years ago
The one thing I can say about the geek squad, at least around here, if they were good enough for you to worry about they wouldn't be working for geek squad.

At the end of the day anytime someone accesses your computer you should change your critical passwords (I would even include the baby sitter in that one but s/he should have a separate account anyway) but other than that if you have decent anti-spyware and anti-virus software just accept it and move on.

If they were doing anything evil at a corporate level it would soon come to light..
lazy_gardens
9 years ago
"Let us get under the hood, clean up some functionality, delete those pesky temp files, update existing software and remove unwanted programs to keep your computer in best condition possible."

NOTHING they did was so technical that you couldn't have done it yourself in an hour or so.

It was more of a tire pressure check, empty the trash, and fill the gas tank than a "tune-up".

Somewhere in my backups I have a whole "housecleaning for Windows" file left over from a writing job I had. Basically you remove software you aren't using, back up data that is no longer active (last year's taxes, whatever) delete stray files (your kid's old game saves,), find and kill any "TMP" files left behind by bad-mannered software, and then defrag the drive.

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/how-to/windows/3493358/how-defrag-in-windows-7-windows-8/

And this, on controlling what starts at boot-up.
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/how-to/windows/3446457/stop-programs-launching-when-windows-8-boots/

Basically, don't boot anything you don't use daily ...

========
The speed difference can be AMAZING.

This post was edited by lazygardens on Thu, Jun 19, 14 at 18:00
owbist
9 years ago
I totally agree with lazygardens. You had a service done and now wonder so why not remove that worry in the future, it is not difficult at all.

Google 'tune up my computer' or 'optimise my computer' for millions of hits with some good how-to's. Create a restore point prior to starting for protection (I never remember to do this but feel it is sound advice :~) )
marknmt
Original Author
9 years ago
Thank you all for your help. I used to do defrag and optimization on earlier computers, but fell behind on this one and decided to let them do it partly in gratitude for the "free" service of getting my Kaspersky up and running. It made us both feel better to have them run the scans and to make sure the system was "right". Some days I just don't want to mess with certain things- while they were doing their thing wife and I went for a great walk in the mountains!

And I have to admit that earlier versions of Windows were somewhat less intimidating to me; guess I need to get over that.

Thanks again all.
Elmer J Fudd
9 years ago
Some thoughts expressed in this thread seem to come from people who I would say are unnecessarily uptight about their PCs.

I wish there were something I could suggest for you to read to help ease the needless worry and concern that I believe too many of you have.
lazy_gardens
9 years ago
Given some of the past shenanigans of the Geek Squad (and other repair services), a certain amount of up-tightness is deserved.

http://www.startribune.com/busness/18470879.html?page=all&prepage=1&c=y#continue

After the public bashing they got, and the lawsuits, they tightened up the corporate auditing and fired some people ... but there's always the jerk who figures that their repair task is license to peep.

Related Stories

FEEL-GOOD HOME 10 Ways to Have a Haven in the City

By Laura Gaskill

Escape urban stress by decorating with soothing colors, soundproof layers and other touches that relax and recharge

FRONT YARD IDEAS Before and After: Front Lawn to Prairie Garden

By Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens

How they did it: Homeowners create a plan, stick to it and keep the neighbors (and wildlife) in mind

Sponsored

Manifesto, Inc.

9 Reviews

Columbus OH Premier Interior Designer 2x Best of Houzz Winner!

More Discussions

Hard drive removal

5

Can I stop my modem from gathering and sharing our data?

12

UPS needed - which ones?

9

Problems with Outlook 2013

0

Any suggestions for a very secure non-web-based email?

3