Suit accuses rent-to-own business of spying on consumers

A Wyoming couple is suing the Atlanta-based rent-to-own company Aaron’s over confidentiality problems. The couple claims that a computer they rented last year was used to spy on them in their home. The lawsuit has brought back some on-going debates about privacy and ethics in the cyber-age.

Taking a photograph from the computer

A Dell computer was to be repossessed by the Casper, Wyo., store manager on Dec. 22 of last year at the home of 2 year old Brian Byrd and 24 year old Chrystal which is what brought the violations to light. The rent-to-own payment hadn’t been made, the manager thought. The manager was given a receipt. This was after the manager showed a photograph of Byrd from his home computer taken from the webcam.

The lawsuit has a comment from the manager. He said he was “not supposed to disclose that Aaron’s had the photograph.”

There is spyware on the computer already

The suit further asserts the rented computer was loaded with spyware designed to track keystrokes, make screenshots and take webcam images.

“It feels like we were pretty much invaded, like somebody else was in our house,” claims Byrd. “Crystal gets online before she gets a shower and checks her grades. Who knows? They could print that stuff off there and take it home.”

Several use ‘Kill switch’

A “Kill switch” is legal with the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act to help out the industry, according to Ohio State professor Petere Swire. Sometimes a device needs to be shut off for an emergency. This is when a kill switch may be used. ”But this action sounds like it’s stretching the self-defense exception pretty far,” Swire made clear.

Suit talks about spyware designer

Designerware LLC is located in Pennsylvania and was where the spyware used was manufactured. Designerware has also been named in the lawsuit. Aaron’s was not a customer according to technical support Chief Tim Kelly.

How Aaron’s responds

There are over 1,140 company-owned Aaron’s stores and several franchised as well as the company is a nationwide corporation. The company claims that the Byrds rented their computer from one of the independent franchisees and that none of the business stores use Designerware goods.

Cyber surveillance raises ethics problems

Cyber surveillance has become increasingly common in the computer age. Computer tracking and video cameras are common in modern offices. Highways and public places almost always have cameras. We could be monitored with a GPS device that can typically be found in every cellphone. And with this loss of privacy comes several questions of ethics.

”We’re already concerned that Americans are tracked, followed and spied on as never before,” ACLU’s Jay Stanley said.

The lawmaker reaction to it all

The Don’t Track Me Online Act, comparable to the national do-not-call list, was introduced earlier this year by Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif. If the user chooses, companies wouldn’t be able to trade stored user information with the legislation.

Articles cited

Bloomberg

bit.ly/jimOOk

News Tribune

newstribune.com/news/2011/may/04/suit-against-pc-renter-aarons-raises-privacy-quest/

PC Pitstop

techtalk.pcpitstop.com/2011/05/24/i-can-see-you-in-your-home/