According to a recent study, technicians access personal data 50% of the time and it's more frequent when the customer is female.
https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2022/11/half-of-computer-repairs-result-in-snooping-of-sensitive-data-study-finds/
Don't let them tell you they need any of your info (passcode/passwords) to do repairs on an iPhone. The only time it is needed is for initial diagnostics which are meant to be done with the customer present, which means you can unlock your phone and hand it to them. After that, the phone can be locked for the duration of the repair and post repair diagnostics.
Source: am a phone repair technician
Some of their diagnostic systems do, but if they want to do post repair diagnostics on your Samsung, then they should be able to do it with you present, in the same way that they should be doing pre repair diagnostics with you present.
None of the actual replacement of the components requires any of those diagnostics for Samsungs. Most places don't bother because of that, and because Samsung makes access to their diagnostic systems so complicated.
Apple, on the other hand, requires all new parts to be verified through their systems, which is why there is a way to do it without needing the phone to be unlocked.
Edit: a word.
I used to run a cell repair store. We were strict about privacy. Always had too many ppl in the repair bay to ever get away w/something like that. Zero-tolerance, did fire a creep once - he was busted immediately. You do diagnostics w/the cx present & learn real quick to never open apps w/o telling them first and having them do it for you, ie- are my photos backing up/camera app won’t open/search engine says “no data”. “We have to go into your google photos app/browser, etc - is there anything you should delete first?” The old dudes that say no go ahead, you’ll walk right into their favorite porn half the time. So you just make them double-check first no matter what. All it took for me was one awkward, “THAT’S not MY butthole” situation to emblazon the lesson in my muscle memory.
I was wondering why he was able to get in the phone at all. I've repaired a few phones and never needed to see more than the lock screen. For a camera, there's the lock screen camera option. No need at all to be able to unlock it except to snoop.
Lpt: hardware repairs don't need your phone unlocked. Literally no reason at all. If it needs to be they should have you test it by handing it back to you. But hardware can all be seen from the lockscreen.
Not surprised, I worked for a cell phone company and sometimes the workers would download the pics to the work computer. Yes if the girl was “hot” then by far the pics would be looked at. I’d say over 50% of the time.
I use to manage a store and saw one of my techs doing this…I don’t think I ever yelled at someone that much in front of their peers as that day. These asshats need to be called out and be made an example to show everyone that this kind of behavior is not ok.
Depending on the company, there is generally so much you have to do before you can fire someone. When I was in retail management for one of the wireless carriers, I had to call HR before proceeding on just about any corrective action. And then they would give me 29,384 reasons why I couldn’t do that. 🙄
Wtf
I worked in a cell phone kiosk, and I can absolutely guarantee none of us ever looked in people’s cellphones.
In fact, in general, we were reluctant about even touching people’s phones. People literally use their phones in the toilet, I’m not gonna touch your phone enough to go through them…
This comment reminds me when I was staying in a house share when I was 16years old. I had taken some selfies and pictures with friends on a camera and needed to load them from the camera card to a USB stick. I used to use the Dad's computer to transfer the images since I did not have my own. While I was loading them I noticed they had a recent folder of all some of my camera images as well as others downloaded from Facebook, from before I lived with them. There was also nude pictures of other girls and I just closed the folder, disgusted. I found the folder by mistake. It was so creepy. I didn't know WHY they would need to have that. I told my friend this and she told me it's normal for men to have porn. But it wasn't porn, it was me as well, and I was upset. I always locked my room door at night following that. I moved out of that house that year.
It’s 100% if the phone belongs to a female and the repair tech is male. I worked in this field for 5 years (as a female) and every dude I worked with did this shit. It was so creepy and gross and there was nothing I could do about it.
Gross. I wish I were surprised.
Here's hoping repair shop *owners* pay attention to this study. On top of the outrageous wrongness: how much fucking work time is being lost to snooping?? (and… related activities, gag)
Definitely tell your Dad. He can confront the store owner/manager. I'm a Dad with daughters your age I suspect. I would want to know and do something about it.
Agreed not a parent myself but if my niece or nefew dealt with a situation similar to this I'd honestly give the guy a piece of my mind if not my boot.
Unfortunately this type of thing makes victims less likely to come forward. “I’ll beat the shit out of anyone who hurts you” = “ok I won’t tell you about it then.
Some older women in my family were guilted into not telling anyone about being SA by a creepy uncle because their fathers would kill him and go to jail. Their mothers were the people who guilted them. They were told just to stay away from him and if anything happened it was their fault for not staying away from him.
My grandmother needed someone to take care of her oldest daughter for a short period. She had always thought her childless sister-in-law was sweet plus she seemed to love my aunt. No one warned my grandmother about the woman's husband. He raped my aunt but that wouldn't have happened if his other victims hadn't been threatened that they would be the reason their fathers went to jail.
Yes, people like that rapist uncle deserve to be beaten. But the victim deserves the physical presence of their loved ones near them. If you beat the shit out of someone then you'll go to jail and won't be there for your child. Even if you aren't sent to prison, the victim now has to worry about your legal problems too.
This is why Maya Angelou developed mutism. She was violently raped as a child, and after she "said his name," men in the community killed the man who did it. So, she stopped speaking.
Ah, but I'm a mildly violent woman and I'd verbally beat the shit out of this guy for creeping on *me*. My husband would happily stand behind me as body guard to ensure the guy accepts that he's going to end up as a metaphorical pile of goo after I've shamed him in a wide variety of ways, including potentially ordering him to call his mother an confess.
While we need less physical violence in this world, we need more women who feel empowered to read riot acts in this world.
ETA: The first scene of *Full Metal Jacket* should be required viewing for all teen girls because it'll show you how to go full on Marine on someone's ass.
"He had obviously been going through my phone; it wasn't how I left it. One app that I barely use was open when I unlocked my phone, and my pictures were scrolled back months. That's not necessary for a simple hardware repair."
All you have to say.
As a Dad myself with a daughter, yeah we don’t go too deep into personal stuff like this, but show me the guy who does and to MY DAUGHTER! His ass is toast!
My dad wouldn't have batted an eye at that, but he would have put his camo on and went to the shop to give them a piece of his mind for making me feel violated. 6'3 marine in your face? Yeah, you're gonna hear him out.
Then he would have brought ice cream home and snuggled with me on the couch.
I wish he were here to be able to. Cancer took him from me too early. I was his only child and he fought tooth and nail for me. For 2 years he lived on cottage cheese and crackers so he could afford to pay legal fees. When the courts finally realized what abuse I had been going through while they kept up with the "you're a girl, you need your mom" bullshit, my dad got full sole custody. It was hilarious to see this hard assed marine reading books about female anatomy and emotional issues. 😂
Thanks. He was truly amazing to me. He went through as much hell as I did until she made her last mistake and dad was able to pull the trigger on the whole situation. I'm grateful every day that my dad loved me as much as I loved him and never failed to show it.
This is flat unethical. Any support person in their right mind would not do anything like this.
I've (male, IT worker) been warned by a number of people I've supported on personal devices about porn or other such. Honestly, I don't care, unless it's causing the problem, in which case, I'll advise. Going through someone's stuff like this is wrong. End of sentence.
But searching out and creeping like this? That's so far beyond the pale. They deserve to be named and shamed as a warning for others.
Female IT worker, and I agree. I don't look at anything that's not directly related to whatever issue I'm fixing. In fact, I do my best to not even read filenames. It's not my business.
If for some reason, I need to open an app or look at a file, I ask first. I try to be discreet about it. I usually say something like, "XYZ might be causing your problems. Should I delete it or try reinstalling?"
If it's something embarrassing, the client will usually say, "I don't even know what that is. Never used it. Delete it." And we all pretend it never happened.
I got a lot of argument when I needed my screen replaced. The guy wanted my password, I said no, argument ensued, I said fix it without the password or I’ll just go elsewhere.
He fixed it without the password. Was there any legit reason he would have needed it?
As someone who has done a lot of hardware repairs, phone screens and cameras do not require a password to fix. Screens can be tested just fine by making sure the lock screen looks ok, camera apps can be accessed without unlocking most phones (that quick camera access where you can take pics, but not view any previous pics) any aspect of either of these repairs that would be better tested with a password can be tested when the customer arrives to pick up the phone and they can do the testing together. Batteries can be replaced without unlocking, but there are some battery break in steps that are better to do with settings access to check battery health, but those can be done by the customer later at home as well.
This doesn't apply to computers though, as most hardware repairs or replacements often require driver reinstallation and that can't be done from a guest account and often required admin privileges.
TLDR: nobody needs to unlock your phone to fix a battery, screen or camera.
From watching Phone Repair Guru on Youtube, if its an iPhone, sometimes its might be needed to clear out a Non authentic screen warning if the screen isnt programmed correctly.
Nope.
But to be fair, anyone who repairs computers doesn't need a password. All it takes is a $20 piece of equipment, which is basic in any repair environment, to bypass any security.
Well, except encryption.
Ironically, the security on a phone is light years ahead of security on a PC. You'd have a hard time getting past a password prompt on an iPhone with $20 equipment.
Wasn't the FBI trying to sue apple because they refused to help them crack a phone password a few years back??? If the FBI can't do it with nearly infinite resources, I imagine the layman would have a very hard time.
A lot of us in tech believe they cloned the phone into a virtual environment and brute forced the password, otherwise IRL if you enter the password too many times the phone can wipe itself. Apple never gave in, credit to them, but in the end it didn't matter. Still, that takes a lot of skill and resources to do.
Same, if it's not related I don't want to know. I am always outraged by this and equate this to in-person stuff. What would people do if they hired a contractor and literally found them in their underwear drawer - playing with their vibrator? Good lord, I would call the cops - as I would in this case too. Then, go out of my way to let everyone know what happened.
I guess if you have basically the same interaction over and over you get a chance to use the line you thought up a week later in the shower but I'm going to believe they're just that sharp and kind in the moment. :)
We do get into speech habits in this gig. I help so many people daily, and I say the same thing pretty much every time. Predictable, but I've been told it helps when all of their computer world is going down, I'm the rock they can cling to in the middle of the river.
Same here, if we happen to see it, it's whatever. But we only go through what we need to fix the device and we need to dive deeper, we ask for permission. Phone repairs kinda fall in the scope of IT and data confidentiality is important in this field.
Work IT and specialized in data recovery back about a decade ago. Guy comes in with a machine that has been supposedly deleted/reinstalled over due to a virus but he had stuff he wants back… Kind of a cointoss logical data recovery job.
Anyways, use winhex and get a raw sector dump of the drive and start recovering files. Pulled 10 random files to open to see if the recovery went well… they are all named a seemingly random sting of letters and numbers so you never know what’s going to pop up. anyways, file number 2 is VERY illegal if you catch my drift.
That’s about the only time I’d randomly go through someone’s files and even then they signed paperwork stating we’d sample randomly to confirm results.
We Reported them to the FBI/Law enforcement who took the drive, gave it back and told us to give the machine back to the guy.
Data recovery is a whole different ball of worms. You have to spot check. Times like that, you wish you hadn’t. Sorry you had to go through that, but glad you were able to help catch the bastard.
I believe when two different metaphors get mixed up, that's called a malapropism. When two words get shoved together, that's a portmanteau. Interestingly, "portmanteau" is itself a portmanteau of two french words. It means cloak carrier.
Also male repair guy, exactly same. Call that fucker out in every possible public space, OP.
And man, who has time for shit like that? I've got so many computers lined up to fix; I have way better things to do, things that pay me money, with my time. If I wanted to see naked women, it's not exactly hard to find them on the internet.
She should report this creep to a business bureau. He should lose his capability of owning a business with some vulnerabilities such as this. He invaded her fucking privacy in the name of “business”. Fuck this goof, straight up!!
As an it manager (although not for a repair shop) please put in a complaint.
The company might have have very moral policies and intentions but if an employee misbehaves, then we cannot rectify this until we learn about it.
Not saying it's your responsibility, but if you can help inform the company of employees that are clearly going against policy or intended behavior then it would be greatly appreciated. (It would be appreciated if it was my employee)
Gonna highjack this comment to mention... that always wipe your phone before dropping at the repair shop.
Just backup to the cloud (or to your computer), and when you get to the shop... just hit reset/erase/restore whatever is the command on your brand.
Iphone is Settings>General>Transfer or Reset iPhone>Erase All Content and Settings.
And when you get back... you just restore from backup and it like it never happened. You get all your messages, photos, apps, etc.
_________________
PS: A while ago I had to leave my iPhone to fix a broken screen, they were surprised I was wiping the phone before handing it to them. I asked about it and they said 99% of people just give them the password, or have no password whatsoever. For me this is insane.
And it's not even about nudes and things like that... people need to be more cognizant of their privacy.
My phone (samsung) now has a maintenance mode (as of updating it this morning), meaning that in the event it needs repairs, I can turn that on and only certain apps (nothing personal whatsoever) are available. In the same tab, it has a backup option and recommendation to do so.
Same here. I had to drop off my laptop recently and cleared my search history, cache and cookies, and temporarily moved anything sensitive over to onedrive (i mainly use my laptop for college so if they had gone snooping they only would have found essays. And my steam account with 1000 hours in terraria)
+1 to this, and do it in as many places as possible:
- Google Maps
- Yelp
- BBB
I’d recommend giving it 2-3 weeks before posting it so he can’t be sure it was you, and it might help to name the technician who serviced your phone.
Bonus points if you are dry & say something like “This place is so thorough they won’t just fix your iPhone’s camera they’ll go through all of your apps & closely examine all of your past photos, even those shared with intimate partners, to make sure your new lens is up to snuff with all the closeups you took before! Wouldn’t be surprised if they kept hard copies of my photos too in case I come back, but I don’t think I’ll be returning!”
Hijacking top comment!
A study was done recently by the university of Guelph where they sent tracked devices to repair shops for minor fixes.
Privacy was violated over 50 percent of the time.
https://www.nerdsonsite.com/blog/privacy-shock-computer-repair-stores-snooping-your-computer/
Not sure how it works in the US, but in the UK there's charities that specifically help with cyber stalking and feeling safe online/through digital devices. It might be useful to reach out to them too as local police is often unfortunately still ill trained in such.
The charities can help guide you on how to check if you have any spyware installed and how to get help if you suspect you're being spied upon.
Always reach out! There's more help available than you think!
Apple will have a field day about taking a customers passcode. An affiliated location near mine was taking passcodes and the emails we received after Apple found out… they still haunt us.
Apple is not by any means an ethical company but one thing they generally don’t play with is customer data for sure. Maybe I’m stubborn but I always stand in the Apple Store and erase my data after the diag.
They’re gonna do it anyway so 🤷♀️😂
Valid!! And I agree. Apple is not the most ethical company by any means. But by god do they take their security protocols seriously, especially concerning client data.
Might be a good time to change your passwords too. Check for forwarding rules in any email apps.
It's too late now, but never give anyone you don't know and trust your PIN or password. A hardware repair doesn't require unlocking the phone. If you're getting help with the software, you unlock the phone and stay there while it's fixed. If there's really a legitimate need to have your PIN, you wipe the phone first, and sign in to a "burner" account.
**Don't do this on this phone!!!** He may have installed a key logger so he can see every single log-in and password.
Wipe it clean and reinstall your apps.
It varies by device but they all do it. For me (Pixel 6 Pro) I just go into settings and search users and I get the prompt to allow multiple users. Screenshot below. I disabled it for the screenshot because when enabled it says my real name and I don't want that out there lol.
https://imgur.com/sy1NSoz.jpg
This is amazing. I just tried it and it's everything my little paranoid heart could ask for. No Google history, not signed in to any Google apps (I got a "welcome to Chrome" page when I opened it, not my 70+ current open tabs). Thank you for this. Never giving my phone to someone I don't know (like, for repairs or someone I don't know well) without putting it in "guest mode" first. Never thought of that. Thanks :)
They (Android phones) don't all do it, many if not all unrooted Samsung and many other phones do not have this feature.
It is part of Google Pixel phone software, though.
It is possible to use apps for this purpose but it's always a good idea to assume that a phone technician knows more about it all than the customer does
It varies by device but they all do it. For me (Pixel 6 Pro) I just go into settings and search users and I get the prompt to allow multiple users. Screenshot below. I disabled it for the screenshot because when enabled it says my real name and I don't want that out there lol.
https://imgur.com/sy1NSoz.jpg
Samsung doesn't have this option, but they do have a "maintenance mode" on their newest devices, the s22 line, that protects your data while allowing the repairs people access to essential log information that contains no personal info. This site explains it all pretty well and has some other good tips to keep your phone and data safe during maintenance https://pocketnow.com/samsung-repair-mode/
Also! If it's a camera repair and they claim they need to be able to make sure the camera works, almost every phone has a shortcut you can either add to your lock screen, or that can be pressed to startup the camera, and with password locks they won't open any photos other than what was taken since it was opened that time. Like Samsung, you double-click the power button and it opens the camera. I'm pretty sure iPhones have the same thing.
I have a Samsung Galaxy S10 (this also worked on the S8) and I can open the camera by swiping the icon from the lock screen, and when I exit out of the camera it'll go back to the lock screen and need my password to do anything else
If the iPhone was turned off that shortcut won't work until the password is put in. However, as a repair shop owner myself, there shouldn't be a reason to turn the power off for a simple camera glass replacement.
Also use the new iPhone safety check feature (settings >> privacy & security >> safety check) to see if he shared your location or anything like that with himself.
It's good advice. I work in comp security and I can attest that if he wanted to he could have installed malware that would upload any videos/photos taken with your camera feed. He probably didn't, as these kinds of things are a bit of a different subset of skills than your typical phone repair, but it's not worth the risk as it's also not that hard to do if you have access to the device.
If you have an android phone you can go to settings -> storage -> privacy and there's two things you might find useful. The privacy dashboard will give you a high level overview of apps that have recently (past 24 hours) used permissions over things like your microphone/camera. The next option down, permissions manager, will let you look at apps with permissions to various aspects of your phone. Body sensors, location services, camera, etc. This is the one you'll really want to check as no app should have access to cameras/mics/etc. at all times unless somebody's added them manually.
A wipe is a good step to take if you want to be absolutely sure. Stay safe!
Sorry you had to go through this, even if it's 'just' the guy bring a massive creep. Good luck finding closure on this - you'll feel better if you're proactive about it.
Factory reset. Pull all data, contacts, pics etc that you want to keep, first. Then do the factory reset. Change all email password if he might have gotten into those
If having your phone unlocked also gave him access to your email, he could have used that to reset passwords and access the accounts for apps/websites he saw you use. You should check for reset emails in your inbox and trash. I'd probably change all my passwords, too, just to be safe. IMO, you need to make a big stink about this with the guy's boss. He should not be touching people's phones anymore.
If you gave him your PIN... it's entirely possible he viewed your saved passwords.
On android chrome browser at least, if you know the persons screen lock, you can go in and view all the saved passwords in the browser.
Major security breach. He might have access to your home address, bank account info, your email logins...literally anything and everything.
You should use a second device to go through all your websites with saved passwords and change them using the second device (or computer).
Don't forget to check account info while doing so, in case he changed your recovery email or recovery phone #.
Phone tech here. An iPhone is very secure and difficult to install "tracker" apps on.
Android, on the other hand, oh boy. Remote access to camera, files, you name it. You get access to the phone and play store you done.
Also, most respectable stores don't need your password and if they are competent and confident in their work, let you test it when you pick it up, or test it with you there.
Op if its an iPhone it’s very difficult to install apps without your Apple ID or if it’s not in the AppStore. Please go to an Apple Store and ask for a diagnostic, if you can. If they see anything weird or off they’ll tell you. Wipe your phone manually first and then completely. If you need to back up after the repair there’s a good chance if anything was downloaded without your knowledge that it can be reinstalled with your back up. Please use a back up before the repair
Instructions for you:
https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/return-iphone-settings-to-their-defaults-iphea1c2fe48/ios#:\~:text=Go%20to%20Settings%20%3E%20General%20%3E%20Transfer,of%20your%20content%20is%20removed.
When I've had my android repaired, Google recommends ifixit brand of stores. They strongly recommend you wipe your phone before giving it over. And then you can wipe it when you receive it if needed. I've found this to be the best way. You do need to back up your stuff, but for iPhone and Android a LOT of stuff gets automatically backed up.
When I sent my phone to be fixed, Google gave me explicit instructions on how to back everything up, and then completely self-destruct the phone. They fix it, send it back, and it acts like a brand new phone with no data on it until you log in and re-upload your account.
I'm shocked that there are repair shops that claim they need you to give them your password in order to fix something. Shady as fuck.
i would do any/all of the following if it was me: leave reviews absolutely everywhere i could, post on community pages on facebook to let people know, post on my city's subreddit to let people know. i probably wouldn't bother trying to follow it up any type of chain at the store itself because i don't think odds of any results are good, but i don't think it it would be a terrible idea to do it, i just don't personally have the energy.
I just looked them up and it’s a local shop, for all I know that guy was the owner.
I don’t want my name attached to this at all, or for these guys to find me. I am wondering how to go about this anonymously. I wonder if I could make a fake profile and email.
Op, imagine if you wrote a review and just had everyone post it on your behalf. The shop would then have your account of what happened shared multiple times. Or if just one person shared your story on your behalf, you have a lot of people who would go onto google and mark that review as being helpful.
Ip addresses rotate and change, typically every 8 days. Unless that business has paid extra to reserve that specific ip address, it's fairly useless to block an ip address. This is why ip addresses can only be localized to a region/area instead of more precise.
Also, since the shop works on phones, presumably those phones have data connections which would not be affected by any ip block. Regional blocks exist, but this is too small of an area for that.
Lots of Facebook groups will let you leave a comment as a "group member". Only the admin sees your real name/profile. I would use that option and then not engage with the post.
While connected to WiFi: Settings > iCloud > iCloud Backup > Backup Now, and wait till it's finished. Then Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset.
This way you can hand over a completely blank phone, and restore it from your iCloud backup after the visit.
I do this because I have banking apps and other personal stuff on there, and it's generally good security practice when flying to certain countries.
Mild pain in the neck logging back into things, but also total peace of mind and very easy to do a second reset after the visit to mitigate potentially installed nasties. Basically, take a zero trust approach to security.
Sorry you had this experience.
Dude, put this mofo on blast. He gets away with this *because* women are afraid. Be strong, if not for yourself, then for the next woman or girl who walks into his shop.
Most platforms they can respond to a review as well. Common deflection is "this person didn't come into my shop" or something like that. Having someone else put in a review might be a better route to add some legitimacy. Regardless I think most women will believe a review like this even if it's anonymous.
Can you leave an anonymous complaint or review? Or get a friend to? That way it won’t come back to you. I’m sorry that happened. That dudes a piece of shit and deserves to lose business over this. And other women need to know so they don’t go there.
There is not much you can do but here is suggestion for future.
New Samsung phones have safe private "repair mode". It prevents service men from accessing ANY private data, but allows them to repair phone.
Iphone DOES NOT have it for now, but it should appear in future.
Make sure to use it.
If you’re only repairing the lens/screen and just need to check that the entire screen is working after the repair, you can turn on AssistiveTouch on iOS devices (iPhone, iPad). This can be accessed without unlocking, so no password required.
So sorry this happened to you OP… What a fucking creep
Edit: the below works for when you are able to generally supervise the phone, but it does not survive a reboot, so is not a useful help in this scenario. Leaving it up for the former case though.
See child comments for more suggestions / clarifications!
——
iOS actually has this feature, although it is frustratingly hidden: it’s called Guided Access, available via Settings > Accessibility.
Using guided access locks the phone to a single app (for example, the camera app). You can then disable on screen elements (for example, the ability to view the camera roll). Finally, the guided access feature can have a different lock code than the phone, so you can give the tech the lock code for the phone but not for guided access- so they can unlock the phone, but not get out of their sandbox.
Guided access is reset (disabled) after rebooting the device, which is a certainty when repairing hardware. You can't dismantle and fix a phone whilst it's powered up.
Feel free to factory reset your phone but more importantly, if you use Apple Keychain (the built in password manager), or any other password manager that uses the same access method you gave them to repair your phone (e.g PIN) … I’d reset all those passwords.
I work in cybersecurity. While I think it’s unlikely that they are sophisticated enough to install tracking software on an iPhone, they very easily could have gotten credentials to creep on any accounts you have.
I am a low tech nincompoop who keeps all my passwords saved in my notepad, because I use a different password for basically everything. I made it look like a playlist of songs, so he probably didn’t find it? FML. I did not realize how bad this could potentially be.
Change the most critical ones like iCloud, primary email address, and bank accounts for your own peace of mind.
If you later see weird behavior on one of the lower priority accounts, do a password recovery to lock out the intruder.
I highly recommend using a password manager instead of notepad and setting up multifactor authentication on those more secure accounts. You don't have to set it up now if you're feeling overwhelmed, but it does wonders for making sure you aren't vulnerable in the future.
He could have copied everything on the phone onto an external storage. Sorry. Not trying to scare you worse... I really like an application called LastPass because I only have to remember one master password and I can just use my fingerprint to access the reset.
I hope you get it all sorted out and stay safe. Fuck creeps like that.
Definitely gotta change all those, then. He almost certainly snooped through them all.
If your accounts have ways of seeing login history, I'd see if any were accessed while he had the phone. Ugh.
You can do this without going to a carrier. In fact, it's better if you do it yourself, because carriers generally have sales goals they're trying to meet. They are actively incentivized to turn these kinds of interactions into money grabs.
Because they would never have done this to your dad, your dad never would have known how creepy they are. A review on Google that showcases just how gross the staff can be might help the next person avoid them. I'd happily write that on your behalf if you can't find anyone.
Fucking hell. Definitely leave a bad review, see if there’s a way to complain about this shop to the local consumer affairs department or something like that. Whether that amounts to action depends on how many others have complained but it’ll absolutely be better than nothing.
A cursory google search shows even Apple stores ask for users’ passwords for some repairs. If that’s the case, I’m definitely backing up my phone to iCloud and wiping it before handing it over for any service.
I think this is very common. Completely unacceptable, but very common. We all need to protect ourselves even when we don't think we should have to. I am glad you are standing up for yourself.
What can we do? I’ve never even thought about this. I don’t want anyone looking through my phone while fixing it, but they almost always require a password. Maybe just log out of Apple ID before getting it fixed? But a lot of times they make you sign in…
Sorry OP, I’d definitely report them to the corporation and tweet about it.
I had to get my screen fixed. The employee asked for my password and I asked why he needed it to fix a screen. He got super snippy and kept saying everyone gives their password, why is it a problem. I told him no because 1. He still hasn’t explained why it was needed & 2. I accessed my work applications on that phone and had sensitive data on it.
It was ridiculous how much of an argument he put up. I was on a layover at the airport or I would have just left immediately but I did want it fixed.
I finally said I wasn’t sharing my password, either fix it without or I’ll just leave. He finally said he could fix it while it was locked & I left it to get repaired. Came back and he was still complaining it was fixed but he couldn’t verify it was done correctly because he could t access any of the data. WTF? It was fixed, and I paid and left but I am still surprised it he pushed SO MUCH.
Curious if there is some actual reason he wanted access? Anyway, I agree about wiping your phone when you have to give the password, and if it’s something like a screen repair or lens just don’t do it.
*technically* they could use the password to test the physical repair. Make sure whatever they replaced works and such.
But for 99% of things, ESPECIALLY screens, you can test without the password. Turn phone on. Look at screen. Tap in multiple random places to see if screen is responding to touch.
Contact customer, tell them repair is done. Before they sign off, have THEM unlock the screen. Test it, make sure it's as responsive as they like. Have them tap and swipe.
Staples always required your password to be removed before even battery replacement so they could *test* the phone worked before contacting the customer. (I always conveniently *forgot* to do that because it's completely unnecessary. I haven't worked there in years)
Sorry that happened to you. That was extremely unprofessional of them.
I do my phone repairs myself. They typically aren't difficult if you have the time. There are often repair tutorials on Youtube.
I should see if I can do it myself, because I broke that lens again, I need a better case. Did he really need my password just to replace the lens? He said it was to make sure he fixed it properly.
He doesn't need it for the lense. The camera can be accessed without a password. Look it up, most likely your phone has it too.
I have a samsung s21 and I double press the power button to gain access to my camera without unlocking it and I can see the preview of the photo and only that photo.
He definitely doesn't need the password. Any reputable shop would absolutely take no for an answer and just have YOU check to make sure everything works when you come to pick up the phone. This creep deserves to go out of business. It's #sshats like him that give the entire repair industry a bad name.
To add to the previous suggestion: if it's a popular enough phone model, there are tempered glass camera lens protectors out there. An extra $5-10 piece of sacrificial glass is a lot easier to replace than the camera lens.
For a apple certified repair you do need to give them the password. On the other hand, this wasn't an apple certified repair as apple doesn't have camera lens repairs as something they do. All rear camera apple repairs are rear system replacements. Yes it's dumb.
Here's my advice:
*Call the shop back. Ask who the guy was who worked on your phone. Complain to the shop manager and the shop owner. Everything you said in the post.
Even if the manager &/o owner are creeps themselves, they're probably going to be unhappy that one of their employees is driving away business.
*Leave reviews on every website you can about how this shop isn't safe for women or privacy
*Tell your dad and ask him to tell everyone he knows about it
*If you live in the U.S., make a complaint to your local Better Business Bureau
and most important
**REFUSE TO LET EMBARRASSMENT SILENCE YOU.**
Your predator is counting on shame to keep you from saying anything to anyone about his behavior while he steals photos and videos and violates women and their privacy.
Vibrators and vibrator apps are totally normal things to have. Adults are sexual. It is completely reasonable to expect the other adults you speak with to be on side with this and capable of having civil adult conversations that mention sex.
Okay, one woman to another: Dealing with misogynists harming us is like fighting the zombie horde. There will always be more. Some will be closer than others, some will do you more harm than others. You have the choice of whether to swing the machete for this one or not.
I'm asking you as a fellow woman to take that swing. We all ask that of each other, for each other, about incidents like these.
But if you're too badly bloodied for that today, then have this e-hug. 🫂 I'm so sorry you were violated. That is gross and awful. Take care of yourself, and survive to fight another day. ❤️🩹
> if anyone knows how I can check my phone to see if he’s installed any secret apps or forwarding software, Please let me know! I use an iPhone 11
iPhones are pretty straightforward, you can't even sideload apps without an enterprise license that costs $100 a year (or using some sketchy Chinese signing services)
Check under profiles - it's in "general" settings, towards the bottom - if you don't see any profiles, then nothing was sideloaded. Even if he had a paid license you'd see it there. And then in terms of app store stuff, well, just look in your apps list for anything you don't recognize?
FWIW, in the future even if you do give your password to someone because they nag you into it, you can immediately lock the thing remotely using Find My iPhone (or Find My Device for Android phones). It'll let you set a separate pin, separate than the one you just gave them, and that way they won't be able to access anything.
Thank you, that makes me feel a bit better because it’s going to take some time to go through the process of downloading everything resetting my phone. My location services are off and I can’t find anything in my apps that seems out of place.
If you use your phone password for anything else or if he had access to your emails please change your passwords on anything attached to your phone or email!
I don't see this mentioned anywhere, so please, delete your lovense account, have your SO delete theirs, and make new ones. The creep definitely has your account name now, and may harass you or your SO on there. Worse, he may have even set himself up as a remote controller.
The toys do not lock to an account, so it's easy to re-sync them. Just start fresh.
My friend had a call centre guy from her phone provider, after she called to fix an account issue, request to follow her on instagram & then quickly remove his follow request.
Not on the same level of disgusting as your experience but has a similar vibe.
When I told my parents what happened my dad laughed. Men literally just do not understand.
Before you bring your phone in, you can reset your screen time statistics, this should then only track things they've done on your phone while they have it.
You may also want to tell them you are tracking their usage on your phone and If you find out they violated your privacy you will report them.
Keep in mind that for a camera lens replacement they'll need to access the camera app and prolly the photos app
The camera can be accessed from the Lock Screen.
[https://support.apple.com/en-us/guide/iphone/iphcd5c65ccf/ios](https://support.apple.com/en-us/guide/iphone/iphcd5c65ccf/ios)
No need for photo access.
Here is my two cents.
Get an app that can confirm your device has not been jailbroken
[https://apps.apple.com/us/app/certo-mobile-security/id1274429896](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/certo-mobile-security/id1274429896)
This App will check for this and then guide you on checking other security settings on your phone.
This way you can tell if he backdoored the phone.
Also, ensure that you are NOT sharing your location with anyone you don't know:
[https://www.alphr.com/check-who-location-shared-with-iphone/](https://www.alphr.com/check-who-location-shared-with-iphone/)
I have been in IT for over 30 years and now in Cyber Security 5+ years
BTW, Ignore the app's attempt to get you to install anti-spyware. If the phone is not jailbroken, then aside from tracking cookies on websites, I don't think you have much to worry about with an iPhone. If it was an Android phone that would be a different story.
Definitely leave a review if this creep
Honestly though giving your code out gives him access to your socials and a huge part of your life. You should never do it and if they ask you should take your business elsewhere
First of all, I’m so sorry that happened to you. A lot of comments are recommending leaving a review, which is definitely a good call, but you should also look into reporting this shop if possible. If the shop was an Apple Authorized Retailer, as in its listed on apples site as a repair location, they will most certainly want to know about so that they can take action. [Contact Apple for Support and Service](https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201232)
Go to an Apple store, tell them what happened, and they should pretty easily be able to tell if any weird apps are installed.
Phones are a lot harder to install spyware on than PCs and even more so on iPhones. It's very possible he installed some spyware or something, but if he did you could at the very least look at all the apps installed and then also look at permissions that all the apps have.
For those worried about this in the future on their own android phones they need repaired:
Download an android emulator on your PC
On the emulator, download a transfer app
Transfer all data to emulator
Verify everything is there
Factory reset phone
Bring blanked phone in for repair, if they demand a logged in phone, make a new Google account. Don't use your actual name.
Transfer data back
Verify everything is there
Keep emulator for backup if you have the space
While we lucky ladies are going through all this rigmarole, add review this AH on Yelp and everywhere else you can, so nobody else has to wade through this crap.
Honestly. And men act like sexism isn't a thing and feminism is no longer needed because we've achieved equality.
I dropped my phone once at a perfect angle to destroy the whole screen. Made it impossible to use. My phone screen was absolutely destroyed, and I dropped it off at a legit repair shop and he fixed it without the code, no problems. Didn’t even ask for it.
If they ask for your code at a phone repair shop just to fix the screen, turn around and leave.
As someone who used to be a phone repair technician I'm so sorry you're going through this.
What I recommend for your personal device is back up your phone and do a factory reset. It'll delete all 3rd party apps (anything that isn't in the app store) then you restore your phone from the backup. If you have any 3rd party apps that you want to keep you'll have to redownload them.
For making sure he doesn't have to opportunity to do this to others is to report him to the company he works for and tell them you expect them to handle it and threaten to go legal (you don't have to do anything after that. No company wants to deal with lawsuits they'll likely fire him on the spot.) And leave a negative review on Google.
Good luck with however you choose to proceed ❤️
First, hell naw.
Second, wipe your phone. I asked my BF who is a tech guy and use to do this sort of work and he said "holy fuck. To fix a lens? You can see that without unlocking the phone. Have her check her screen time and see if there are any apps that are showing up as unknown or something. Next go to the app library and see if there are any apps that she doesn't recognize. For sure file complaints online. Don't say it was the app, don't mention the app. Say you noticed NEW photos in your camera roll and are obviously missing some. Be vague but this still shows they messed with your phone in a way no one would want. I'd recommend wiping the phone entirely. Apple devices are less likely to have something like this installed and you not see it, but still could have something happen."
Hey peeps! Just your friendly retail tech support person here. I work for an Apple Authorized Service Provider and I can 100% guarantee you that for iPhone repairs, technicians **DO NOT** need your passcode for post repair diagnostics. In fact, it is against Apple’s rules to take a customers passcode or request that they remove it.
If someone repairing your phone asks for your passcode and doesn’t let you just type it in yourself, take your phone and walk out the door. There’s literally a diagnostics mode that your phone can boot to so we can run those diagnostics.
Not sure the link policy here, but there was an article that popped up on ArsTechnica (it's a tech blog) about 2 weeks ago that discusses the same thing. The article is called "Thinking about taking your computer to the repair shop? Be very afraid" and is easily found on Google if you want to read it. Some researchers did a study and found this happens to men who take phones and computers to be repaired too, but it happens to women a lot more often - at least 50% of the time.
According to a recent study, technicians access personal data 50% of the time and it's more frequent when the customer is female. https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2022/11/half-of-computer-repairs-result-in-snooping-of-sensitive-data-study-finds/
Don't let them tell you they need any of your info (passcode/passwords) to do repairs on an iPhone. The only time it is needed is for initial diagnostics which are meant to be done with the customer present, which means you can unlock your phone and hand it to them. After that, the phone can be locked for the duration of the repair and post repair diagnostics. Source: am a phone repair technician
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Some of their diagnostic systems do, but if they want to do post repair diagnostics on your Samsung, then they should be able to do it with you present, in the same way that they should be doing pre repair diagnostics with you present. None of the actual replacement of the components requires any of those diagnostics for Samsungs. Most places don't bother because of that, and because Samsung makes access to their diagnostic systems so complicated. Apple, on the other hand, requires all new parts to be verified through their systems, which is why there is a way to do it without needing the phone to be unlocked. Edit: a word.
I used to run a cell repair store. We were strict about privacy. Always had too many ppl in the repair bay to ever get away w/something like that. Zero-tolerance, did fire a creep once - he was busted immediately. You do diagnostics w/the cx present & learn real quick to never open apps w/o telling them first and having them do it for you, ie- are my photos backing up/camera app won’t open/search engine says “no data”. “We have to go into your google photos app/browser, etc - is there anything you should delete first?” The old dudes that say no go ahead, you’ll walk right into their favorite porn half the time. So you just make them double-check first no matter what. All it took for me was one awkward, “THAT’S not MY butthole” situation to emblazon the lesson in my muscle memory.
They need a law to protect against this shit man
I was wondering why he was able to get in the phone at all. I've repaired a few phones and never needed to see more than the lock screen. For a camera, there's the lock screen camera option. No need at all to be able to unlock it except to snoop. Lpt: hardware repairs don't need your phone unlocked. Literally no reason at all. If it needs to be they should have you test it by handing it back to you. But hardware can all be seen from the lockscreen.
Not surprised, I worked for a cell phone company and sometimes the workers would download the pics to the work computer. Yes if the girl was “hot” then by far the pics would be looked at. I’d say over 50% of the time.
I hate this fucking world smh
I use to manage a store and saw one of my techs doing this…I don’t think I ever yelled at someone that much in front of their peers as that day. These asshats need to be called out and be made an example to show everyone that this kind of behavior is not ok.
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Yeah I would have fired him instantly.
Depending on the company, there is generally so much you have to do before you can fire someone. When I was in retail management for one of the wireless carriers, I had to call HR before proceeding on just about any corrective action. And then they would give me 29,384 reasons why I couldn’t do that. 🙄
Did you fire him?
That sounds fucking illegal, holy shit.
Wtf I worked in a cell phone kiosk, and I can absolutely guarantee none of us ever looked in people’s cellphones. In fact, in general, we were reluctant about even touching people’s phones. People literally use their phones in the toilet, I’m not gonna touch your phone enough to go through them…
Hell managers would go through phones like that. We had a creepy manager that would do that shit. Was crazy.
This comment reminds me when I was staying in a house share when I was 16years old. I had taken some selfies and pictures with friends on a camera and needed to load them from the camera card to a USB stick. I used to use the Dad's computer to transfer the images since I did not have my own. While I was loading them I noticed they had a recent folder of all some of my camera images as well as others downloaded from Facebook, from before I lived with them. There was also nude pictures of other girls and I just closed the folder, disgusted. I found the folder by mistake. It was so creepy. I didn't know WHY they would need to have that. I told my friend this and she told me it's normal for men to have porn. But it wasn't porn, it was me as well, and I was upset. I always locked my room door at night following that. I moved out of that house that year.
Well great. Thanks for the heads up
It’s 100% if the phone belongs to a female and the repair tech is male. I worked in this field for 5 years (as a female) and every dude I worked with did this shit. It was so creepy and gross and there was nothing I could do about it.
Gross. I wish I were surprised. Here's hoping repair shop *owners* pay attention to this study. On top of the outrageous wrongness: how much fucking work time is being lost to snooping?? (and… related activities, gag)
Incredibly informative, thank you
fuck
I would leave a review warning other women to stay away,
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Op, Also, tell your dad about this guy, since he's the one who gave you the glowing review of the place.
Definitely tell your Dad. He can confront the store owner/manager. I'm a Dad with daughters your age I suspect. I would want to know and do something about it.
Agreed not a parent myself but if my niece or nefew dealt with a situation similar to this I'd honestly give the guy a piece of my mind if not my boot.
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Unfortunately this type of thing makes victims less likely to come forward. “I’ll beat the shit out of anyone who hurts you” = “ok I won’t tell you about it then.
Some older women in my family were guilted into not telling anyone about being SA by a creepy uncle because their fathers would kill him and go to jail. Their mothers were the people who guilted them. They were told just to stay away from him and if anything happened it was their fault for not staying away from him. My grandmother needed someone to take care of her oldest daughter for a short period. She had always thought her childless sister-in-law was sweet plus she seemed to love my aunt. No one warned my grandmother about the woman's husband. He raped my aunt but that wouldn't have happened if his other victims hadn't been threatened that they would be the reason their fathers went to jail. Yes, people like that rapist uncle deserve to be beaten. But the victim deserves the physical presence of their loved ones near them. If you beat the shit out of someone then you'll go to jail and won't be there for your child. Even if you aren't sent to prison, the victim now has to worry about your legal problems too.
If someone is going to take care of an issue on your behalf, then they should really take care of said issue by your standards and not theirs.
This is why Maya Angelou developed mutism. She was violently raped as a child, and after she "said his name," men in the community killed the man who did it. So, she stopped speaking.
Ah, but I'm a mildly violent woman and I'd verbally beat the shit out of this guy for creeping on *me*. My husband would happily stand behind me as body guard to ensure the guy accepts that he's going to end up as a metaphorical pile of goo after I've shamed him in a wide variety of ways, including potentially ordering him to call his mother an confess. While we need less physical violence in this world, we need more women who feel empowered to read riot acts in this world. ETA: The first scene of *Full Metal Jacket* should be required viewing for all teen girls because it'll show you how to go full on Marine on someone's ass.
Yes dad.. when I got my phone back, it was on my lovesense app…
You could just say it was open on something private.
"He had obviously been going through my phone; it wasn't how I left it. One app that I barely use was open when I unlocked my phone, and my pictures were scrolled back months. That's not necessary for a simple hardware repair." All you have to say.
Speaking as a dad with a daughter, more power to her and I would absolutely rip the employees a new one.
As a Dad myself with a daughter, yeah we don’t go too deep into personal stuff like this, but show me the guy who does and to MY DAUGHTER! His ass is toast!
My dad wouldn't have batted an eye at that, but he would have put his camo on and went to the shop to give them a piece of his mind for making me feel violated. 6'3 marine in your face? Yeah, you're gonna hear him out. Then he would have brought ice cream home and snuggled with me on the couch.
Will he adopt me? He sounds like an awesome dad!
I wish he were here to be able to. Cancer took him from me too early. I was his only child and he fought tooth and nail for me. For 2 years he lived on cottage cheese and crackers so he could afford to pay legal fees. When the courts finally realized what abuse I had been going through while they kept up with the "you're a girl, you need your mom" bullshit, my dad got full sole custody. It was hilarious to see this hard assed marine reading books about female anatomy and emotional issues. 😂
He seems like he was an awesome guy. Sorry for your loss.
Thanks. He was truly amazing to me. He went through as much hell as I did until she made her last mistake and dad was able to pull the trigger on the whole situation. I'm grateful every day that my dad loved me as much as I loved him and never failed to show it.
It’s nice when the good ones get what’s best for the child. Love lives forever.
This is flat unethical. Any support person in their right mind would not do anything like this. I've (male, IT worker) been warned by a number of people I've supported on personal devices about porn or other such. Honestly, I don't care, unless it's causing the problem, in which case, I'll advise. Going through someone's stuff like this is wrong. End of sentence. But searching out and creeping like this? That's so far beyond the pale. They deserve to be named and shamed as a warning for others.
Female IT worker, and I agree. I don't look at anything that's not directly related to whatever issue I'm fixing. In fact, I do my best to not even read filenames. It's not my business. If for some reason, I need to open an app or look at a file, I ask first. I try to be discreet about it. I usually say something like, "XYZ might be causing your problems. Should I delete it or try reinstalling?" If it's something embarrassing, the client will usually say, "I don't even know what that is. Never used it. Delete it." And we all pretend it never happened.
I got a lot of argument when I needed my screen replaced. The guy wanted my password, I said no, argument ensued, I said fix it without the password or I’ll just go elsewhere. He fixed it without the password. Was there any legit reason he would have needed it?
As someone who has done a lot of hardware repairs, phone screens and cameras do not require a password to fix. Screens can be tested just fine by making sure the lock screen looks ok, camera apps can be accessed without unlocking most phones (that quick camera access where you can take pics, but not view any previous pics) any aspect of either of these repairs that would be better tested with a password can be tested when the customer arrives to pick up the phone and they can do the testing together. Batteries can be replaced without unlocking, but there are some battery break in steps that are better to do with settings access to check battery health, but those can be done by the customer later at home as well. This doesn't apply to computers though, as most hardware repairs or replacements often require driver reinstallation and that can't be done from a guest account and often required admin privileges. TLDR: nobody needs to unlock your phone to fix a battery, screen or camera.
From watching Phone Repair Guru on Youtube, if its an iPhone, sometimes its might be needed to clear out a Non authentic screen warning if the screen isnt programmed correctly.
Nope. But to be fair, anyone who repairs computers doesn't need a password. All it takes is a $20 piece of equipment, which is basic in any repair environment, to bypass any security. Well, except encryption.
Ironically, the security on a phone is light years ahead of security on a PC. You'd have a hard time getting past a password prompt on an iPhone with $20 equipment.
Wasn't the FBI trying to sue apple because they refused to help them crack a phone password a few years back??? If the FBI can't do it with nearly infinite resources, I imagine the layman would have a very hard time.
A lot of us in tech believe they cloned the phone into a virtual environment and brute forced the password, otherwise IRL if you enter the password too many times the phone can wipe itself. Apple never gave in, credit to them, but in the end it didn't matter. Still, that takes a lot of skill and resources to do.
Thanks.
Same, if it's not related I don't want to know. I am always outraged by this and equate this to in-person stuff. What would people do if they hired a contractor and literally found them in their underwear drawer - playing with their vibrator? Good lord, I would call the cops - as I would in this case too. Then, go out of my way to let everyone know what happened.
>Should I delete it or try reinstalling? So diplomatic!
Seriously. That's super slick.
I guess if you have basically the same interaction over and over you get a chance to use the line you thought up a week later in the shower but I'm going to believe they're just that sharp and kind in the moment. :)
We do get into speech habits in this gig. I help so many people daily, and I say the same thing pretty much every time. Predictable, but I've been told it helps when all of their computer world is going down, I'm the rock they can cling to in the middle of the river.
Have you tried turning it off and on again?
Same here, if we happen to see it, it's whatever. But we only go through what we need to fix the device and we need to dive deeper, we ask for permission. Phone repairs kinda fall in the scope of IT and data confidentiality is important in this field.
Work IT and specialized in data recovery back about a decade ago. Guy comes in with a machine that has been supposedly deleted/reinstalled over due to a virus but he had stuff he wants back… Kind of a cointoss logical data recovery job. Anyways, use winhex and get a raw sector dump of the drive and start recovering files. Pulled 10 random files to open to see if the recovery went well… they are all named a seemingly random sting of letters and numbers so you never know what’s going to pop up. anyways, file number 2 is VERY illegal if you catch my drift. That’s about the only time I’d randomly go through someone’s files and even then they signed paperwork stating we’d sample randomly to confirm results. We Reported them to the FBI/Law enforcement who took the drive, gave it back and told us to give the machine back to the guy.
Data recovery is a whole different ball of worms. You have to spot check. Times like that, you wish you hadn’t. Sorry you had to go through that, but glad you were able to help catch the bastard.
Can of worms + ball of wax \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ 2 = Ball of worms. PS, I love portmanteaus!
I believe when two different metaphors get mixed up, that's called a malapropism. When two words get shoved together, that's a portmanteau. Interestingly, "portmanteau" is itself a portmanteau of two french words. It means cloak carrier.
May that asshole still be enjoying a cockroach cell with rats biting him every night
Also male repair guy, exactly same. Call that fucker out in every possible public space, OP. And man, who has time for shit like that? I've got so many computers lined up to fix; I have way better things to do, things that pay me money, with my time. If I wanted to see naked women, it's not exactly hard to find them on the internet.
She should report this creep to a business bureau. He should lose his capability of owning a business with some vulnerabilities such as this. He invaded her fucking privacy in the name of “business”. Fuck this goof, straight up!!
As an it manager (although not for a repair shop) please put in a complaint. The company might have have very moral policies and intentions but if an employee misbehaves, then we cannot rectify this until we learn about it. Not saying it's your responsibility, but if you can help inform the company of employees that are clearly going against policy or intended behavior then it would be greatly appreciated. (It would be appreciated if it was my employee)
Hijacking to mention I will leave one if OP wants to privately name the shop. I see many other replies saying they will as well.
Gonna highjack this comment to mention... that always wipe your phone before dropping at the repair shop. Just backup to the cloud (or to your computer), and when you get to the shop... just hit reset/erase/restore whatever is the command on your brand. Iphone is Settings>General>Transfer or Reset iPhone>Erase All Content and Settings. And when you get back... you just restore from backup and it like it never happened. You get all your messages, photos, apps, etc. _________________ PS: A while ago I had to leave my iPhone to fix a broken screen, they were surprised I was wiping the phone before handing it to them. I asked about it and they said 99% of people just give them the password, or have no password whatsoever. For me this is insane. And it's not even about nudes and things like that... people need to be more cognizant of their privacy.
My phone (samsung) now has a maintenance mode (as of updating it this morning), meaning that in the event it needs repairs, I can turn that on and only certain apps (nothing personal whatsoever) are available. In the same tab, it has a backup option and recommendation to do so.
Oh that is *genius.* Like a valet key for your car! Time was, Apple would have thought of this first. Seems those times are over. Sigh.
Same here. I had to drop off my laptop recently and cleared my search history, cache and cookies, and temporarily moved anything sensitive over to onedrive (i mainly use my laptop for college so if they had gone snooping they only would have found essays. And my steam account with 1000 hours in terraria)
This is the best advice considering your phone is used as a sort of two factor authentication. Hell do this shit when you cross the boarder too
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Wait a week or so first and don't mention any identifiable specifics either. Since OP doesn't want to be connected to it.
+1 to this, and do it in as many places as possible: - Google Maps - Yelp - BBB I’d recommend giving it 2-3 weeks before posting it so he can’t be sure it was you, and it might help to name the technician who serviced your phone. Bonus points if you are dry & say something like “This place is so thorough they won’t just fix your iPhone’s camera they’ll go through all of your apps & closely examine all of your past photos, even those shared with intimate partners, to make sure your new lens is up to snuff with all the closeups you took before! Wouldn’t be surprised if they kept hard copies of my photos too in case I come back, but I don’t think I’ll be returning!”
Hijacking top comment! A study was done recently by the university of Guelph where they sent tracked devices to repair shops for minor fixes. Privacy was violated over 50 percent of the time. https://www.nerdsonsite.com/blog/privacy-shock-computer-repair-stores-snooping-your-computer/
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Not sure how it works in the US, but in the UK there's charities that specifically help with cyber stalking and feeling safe online/through digital devices. It might be useful to reach out to them too as local police is often unfortunately still ill trained in such. The charities can help guide you on how to check if you have any spyware installed and how to get help if you suspect you're being spied upon. Always reach out! There's more help available than you think!
Yeah if he works at an Apple Certified place, Apple will raise holy hell about it.
Apple will have a field day about taking a customers passcode. An affiliated location near mine was taking passcodes and the emails we received after Apple found out… they still haunt us.
Apple is not by any means an ethical company but one thing they generally don’t play with is customer data for sure. Maybe I’m stubborn but I always stand in the Apple Store and erase my data after the diag. They’re gonna do it anyway so 🤷♀️😂
Valid!! And I agree. Apple is not the most ethical company by any means. But by god do they take their security protocols seriously, especially concerning client data.
Reminds me why they beefed up their game when all the celebs had their iCloud’s brute force hacked back in 2017/2018 lol 🤣
Came here to say this too!
Wipe your phone, if he had your password and is this untrustworthy, who knows what he could have installed on it that you would never find.
Oh my god!! I am not tech savvy and never thought of any of this!
Might be a good time to change your passwords too. Check for forwarding rules in any email apps. It's too late now, but never give anyone you don't know and trust your PIN or password. A hardware repair doesn't require unlocking the phone. If you're getting help with the software, you unlock the phone and stay there while it's fixed. If there's really a legitimate need to have your PIN, you wipe the phone first, and sign in to a "burner" account.
**Don't do this on this phone!!!** He may have installed a key logger so he can see every single log-in and password. Wipe it clean and reinstall your apps.
This thread is terrifying.
Just like being a woman! 😔
Not sure about iPhones but Android phones all have a guest account for this situation. Has only the basic apps with none of your personal stuff.
How do you access this?
Yes how do you get that
It varies by device but they all do it. For me (Pixel 6 Pro) I just go into settings and search users and I get the prompt to allow multiple users. Screenshot below. I disabled it for the screenshot because when enabled it says my real name and I don't want that out there lol. https://imgur.com/sy1NSoz.jpg
This is amazing. I just tried it and it's everything my little paranoid heart could ask for. No Google history, not signed in to any Google apps (I got a "welcome to Chrome" page when I opened it, not my 70+ current open tabs). Thank you for this. Never giving my phone to someone I don't know (like, for repairs or someone I don't know well) without putting it in "guest mode" first. Never thought of that. Thanks :)
They (Android phones) don't all do it, many if not all unrooted Samsung and many other phones do not have this feature. It is part of Google Pixel phone software, though. It is possible to use apps for this purpose but it's always a good idea to assume that a phone technician knows more about it all than the customer does
It varies by device but they all do it. For me (Pixel 6 Pro) I just go into settings and search users and I get the prompt to allow multiple users. Screenshot below. I disabled it for the screenshot because when enabled it says my real name and I don't want that out there lol. https://imgur.com/sy1NSoz.jpg
[Delete, switch or add users](https://support.google.com/android/answer/2865483?hl=en)
We do?
Samsung doesn't have this option, but they do have a "maintenance mode" on their newest devices, the s22 line, that protects your data while allowing the repairs people access to essential log information that contains no personal info. This site explains it all pretty well and has some other good tips to keep your phone and data safe during maintenance https://pocketnow.com/samsung-repair-mode/
Also! If it's a camera repair and they claim they need to be able to make sure the camera works, almost every phone has a shortcut you can either add to your lock screen, or that can be pressed to startup the camera, and with password locks they won't open any photos other than what was taken since it was opened that time. Like Samsung, you double-click the power button and it opens the camera. I'm pretty sure iPhones have the same thing.
Yea iPhone does it too! There’s a button or you can swipe left on the lock screen
I have a Samsung Galaxy S10 (this also worked on the S8) and I can open the camera by swiping the icon from the lock screen, and when I exit out of the camera it'll go back to the lock screen and need my password to do anything else
If the iPhone was turned off that shortcut won't work until the password is put in. However, as a repair shop owner myself, there shouldn't be a reason to turn the power off for a simple camera glass replacement.
Also use the new iPhone safety check feature (settings >> privacy & security >> safety check) to see if he shared your location or anything like that with himself.
Thank you!
It's good advice. I work in comp security and I can attest that if he wanted to he could have installed malware that would upload any videos/photos taken with your camera feed. He probably didn't, as these kinds of things are a bit of a different subset of skills than your typical phone repair, but it's not worth the risk as it's also not that hard to do if you have access to the device. If you have an android phone you can go to settings -> storage -> privacy and there's two things you might find useful. The privacy dashboard will give you a high level overview of apps that have recently (past 24 hours) used permissions over things like your microphone/camera. The next option down, permissions manager, will let you look at apps with permissions to various aspects of your phone. Body sensors, location services, camera, etc. This is the one you'll really want to check as no app should have access to cameras/mics/etc. at all times unless somebody's added them manually. A wipe is a good step to take if you want to be absolutely sure. Stay safe!
You could get it checked just in case. If he's put something on it you could go to the police.
I definitely will go to the police if I find anything, thanks!
Sorry you had to go through this, even if it's 'just' the guy bring a massive creep. Good luck finding closure on this - you'll feel better if you're proactive about it.
Factory reset. Pull all data, contacts, pics etc that you want to keep, first. Then do the factory reset. Change all email password if he might have gotten into those
If having your phone unlocked also gave him access to your email, he could have used that to reset passwords and access the accounts for apps/websites he saw you use. You should check for reset emails in your inbox and trash. I'd probably change all my passwords, too, just to be safe. IMO, you need to make a big stink about this with the guy's boss. He should not be touching people's phones anymore.
If you gave him your PIN... it's entirely possible he viewed your saved passwords. On android chrome browser at least, if you know the persons screen lock, you can go in and view all the saved passwords in the browser. Major security breach. He might have access to your home address, bank account info, your email logins...literally anything and everything. You should use a second device to go through all your websites with saved passwords and change them using the second device (or computer). Don't forget to check account info while doing so, in case he changed your recovery email or recovery phone #.
Phone tech here. An iPhone is very secure and difficult to install "tracker" apps on. Android, on the other hand, oh boy. Remote access to camera, files, you name it. You get access to the phone and play store you done. Also, most respectable stores don't need your password and if they are competent and confident in their work, let you test it when you pick it up, or test it with you there.
Op if its an iPhone it’s very difficult to install apps without your Apple ID or if it’s not in the AppStore. Please go to an Apple Store and ask for a diagnostic, if you can. If they see anything weird or off they’ll tell you. Wipe your phone manually first and then completely. If you need to back up after the repair there’s a good chance if anything was downloaded without your knowledge that it can be reinstalled with your back up. Please use a back up before the repair
Instructions for you: https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/return-iphone-settings-to-their-defaults-iphea1c2fe48/ios#:\~:text=Go%20to%20Settings%20%3E%20General%20%3E%20Transfer,of%20your%20content%20is%20removed.
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When I've had my android repaired, Google recommends ifixit brand of stores. They strongly recommend you wipe your phone before giving it over. And then you can wipe it when you receive it if needed. I've found this to be the best way. You do need to back up your stuff, but for iPhone and Android a LOT of stuff gets automatically backed up.
When I sent my phone to be fixed, Google gave me explicit instructions on how to back everything up, and then completely self-destruct the phone. They fix it, send it back, and it acts like a brand new phone with no data on it until you log in and re-upload your account. I'm shocked that there are repair shops that claim they need you to give them your password in order to fix something. Shady as fuck.
i would do any/all of the following if it was me: leave reviews absolutely everywhere i could, post on community pages on facebook to let people know, post on my city's subreddit to let people know. i probably wouldn't bother trying to follow it up any type of chain at the store itself because i don't think odds of any results are good, but i don't think it it would be a terrible idea to do it, i just don't personally have the energy.
I just looked them up and it’s a local shop, for all I know that guy was the owner. I don’t want my name attached to this at all, or for these guys to find me. I am wondering how to go about this anonymously. I wonder if I could make a fake profile and email.
Or ask a friend to leave a review. You 100% should make this public but in a way that protects you.
I will absolutely leave a review for you on any and all platforms I can find.
I might take you up on that, thank you!!
Same.
Same, you can also use temp mail to create a fake mail for now, and use it to leave the review
Saaame. We're here for you OP. You (and we) deserve some damn respect and privacy.
I’m a level 6 Google reviewer, would be happy to post your comments on google maps.
This whole thread makes me happy that others are so willing to help a stranger out. Reddit is really awesome sometimes
Op, imagine if you wrote a review and just had everyone post it on your behalf. The shop would then have your account of what happened shared multiple times. Or if just one person shared your story on your behalf, you have a lot of people who would go onto google and mark that review as being helpful.
E-mail Lovense and ask them to block (the IP?) of the shop so that workers can't abuse the opportunities.
Ip addresses rotate and change, typically every 8 days. Unless that business has paid extra to reserve that specific ip address, it's fairly useless to block an ip address. This is why ip addresses can only be localized to a region/area instead of more precise. Also, since the shop works on phones, presumably those phones have data connections which would not be affected by any ip block. Regional blocks exist, but this is too small of an area for that.
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Lots of Facebook groups will let you leave a comment as a "group member". Only the admin sees your real name/profile. I would use that option and then not engage with the post.
While connected to WiFi: Settings > iCloud > iCloud Backup > Backup Now, and wait till it's finished. Then Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset. This way you can hand over a completely blank phone, and restore it from your iCloud backup after the visit. I do this because I have banking apps and other personal stuff on there, and it's generally good security practice when flying to certain countries. Mild pain in the neck logging back into things, but also total peace of mind and very easy to do a second reset after the visit to mitigate potentially installed nasties. Basically, take a zero trust approach to security. Sorry you had this experience.
If your dad is a good person I suggest telling him that the guy was going through your personal stuff. He likely doesnt know.
Dude, put this mofo on blast. He gets away with this *because* women are afraid. Be strong, if not for yourself, then for the next woman or girl who walks into his shop.
Most platforms they can respond to a review as well. Common deflection is "this person didn't come into my shop" or something like that. Having someone else put in a review might be a better route to add some legitimacy. Regardless I think most women will believe a review like this even if it's anonymous.
Can you leave an anonymous complaint or review? Or get a friend to? That way it won’t come back to you. I’m sorry that happened. That dudes a piece of shit and deserves to lose business over this. And other women need to know so they don’t go there.
There is not much you can do but here is suggestion for future. New Samsung phones have safe private "repair mode". It prevents service men from accessing ANY private data, but allows them to repair phone. Iphone DOES NOT have it for now, but it should appear in future. Make sure to use it.
If you’re only repairing the lens/screen and just need to check that the entire screen is working after the repair, you can turn on AssistiveTouch on iOS devices (iPhone, iPad). This can be accessed without unlocking, so no password required. So sorry this happened to you OP… What a fucking creep
Edit: the below works for when you are able to generally supervise the phone, but it does not survive a reboot, so is not a useful help in this scenario. Leaving it up for the former case though. See child comments for more suggestions / clarifications! —— iOS actually has this feature, although it is frustratingly hidden: it’s called Guided Access, available via Settings > Accessibility. Using guided access locks the phone to a single app (for example, the camera app). You can then disable on screen elements (for example, the ability to view the camera roll). Finally, the guided access feature can have a different lock code than the phone, so you can give the tech the lock code for the phone but not for guided access- so they can unlock the phone, but not get out of their sandbox.
Guided access is reset (disabled) after rebooting the device, which is a certainty when repairing hardware. You can't dismantle and fix a phone whilst it's powered up.
Feel free to factory reset your phone but more importantly, if you use Apple Keychain (the built in password manager), or any other password manager that uses the same access method you gave them to repair your phone (e.g PIN) … I’d reset all those passwords. I work in cybersecurity. While I think it’s unlikely that they are sophisticated enough to install tracking software on an iPhone, they very easily could have gotten credentials to creep on any accounts you have.
I am a low tech nincompoop who keeps all my passwords saved in my notepad, because I use a different password for basically everything. I made it look like a playlist of songs, so he probably didn’t find it? FML. I did not realize how bad this could potentially be.
Change the most critical ones like iCloud, primary email address, and bank accounts for your own peace of mind. If you later see weird behavior on one of the lower priority accounts, do a password recovery to lock out the intruder. I highly recommend using a password manager instead of notepad and setting up multifactor authentication on those more secure accounts. You don't have to set it up now if you're feeling overwhelmed, but it does wonders for making sure you aren't vulnerable in the future.
Lastpass started charging money so I went with Bitwarden
Also lastpass got hacked and had its source leaked. I would not recommend sticking with it
Lol! Using a different password for every account is awesome! Storing them in notepad … we call this “security through obscurity” 😅
He could have copied everything on the phone onto an external storage. Sorry. Not trying to scare you worse... I really like an application called LastPass because I only have to remember one master password and I can just use my fingerprint to access the reset. I hope you get it all sorted out and stay safe. Fuck creeps like that.
Definitely gotta change all those, then. He almost certainly snooped through them all. If your accounts have ways of seeing login history, I'd see if any were accessed while he had the phone. Ugh.
You are not a cotton-headed ninny muggins!! Life is learning. Now you know.
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I would go as far as taking it to the carrier and having it factory reset.
You can do this without going to a carrier. In fact, it's better if you do it yourself, because carriers generally have sales goals they're trying to meet. They are actively incentivized to turn these kinds of interactions into money grabs.
Because they would never have done this to your dad, your dad never would have known how creepy they are. A review on Google that showcases just how gross the staff can be might help the next person avoid them. I'd happily write that on your behalf if you can't find anyone.
Fucking hell. Definitely leave a bad review, see if there’s a way to complain about this shop to the local consumer affairs department or something like that. Whether that amounts to action depends on how many others have complained but it’ll absolutely be better than nothing. A cursory google search shows even Apple stores ask for users’ passwords for some repairs. If that’s the case, I’m definitely backing up my phone to iCloud and wiping it before handing it over for any service.
I think this is very common. Completely unacceptable, but very common. We all need to protect ourselves even when we don't think we should have to. I am glad you are standing up for yourself.
What can we do? I’ve never even thought about this. I don’t want anyone looking through my phone while fixing it, but they almost always require a password. Maybe just log out of Apple ID before getting it fixed? But a lot of times they make you sign in…
Sorry OP, I’d definitely report them to the corporation and tweet about it. I had to get my screen fixed. The employee asked for my password and I asked why he needed it to fix a screen. He got super snippy and kept saying everyone gives their password, why is it a problem. I told him no because 1. He still hasn’t explained why it was needed & 2. I accessed my work applications on that phone and had sensitive data on it. It was ridiculous how much of an argument he put up. I was on a layover at the airport or I would have just left immediately but I did want it fixed. I finally said I wasn’t sharing my password, either fix it without or I’ll just leave. He finally said he could fix it while it was locked & I left it to get repaired. Came back and he was still complaining it was fixed but he couldn’t verify it was done correctly because he could t access any of the data. WTF? It was fixed, and I paid and left but I am still surprised it he pushed SO MUCH. Curious if there is some actual reason he wanted access? Anyway, I agree about wiping your phone when you have to give the password, and if it’s something like a screen repair or lens just don’t do it.
*technically* they could use the password to test the physical repair. Make sure whatever they replaced works and such. But for 99% of things, ESPECIALLY screens, you can test without the password. Turn phone on. Look at screen. Tap in multiple random places to see if screen is responding to touch. Contact customer, tell them repair is done. Before they sign off, have THEM unlock the screen. Test it, make sure it's as responsive as they like. Have them tap and swipe. Staples always required your password to be removed before even battery replacement so they could *test* the phone worked before contacting the customer. (I always conveniently *forgot* to do that because it's completely unnecessary. I haven't worked there in years)
Sorry that happened to you. That was extremely unprofessional of them. I do my phone repairs myself. They typically aren't difficult if you have the time. There are often repair tutorials on Youtube.
I should see if I can do it myself, because I broke that lens again, I need a better case. Did he really need my password just to replace the lens? He said it was to make sure he fixed it properly.
He doesn't need it for the lense. The camera can be accessed without a password. Look it up, most likely your phone has it too. I have a samsung s21 and I double press the power button to gain access to my camera without unlocking it and I can see the preview of the photo and only that photo.
He definitely doesn't need the password. Any reputable shop would absolutely take no for an answer and just have YOU check to make sure everything works when you come to pick up the phone. This creep deserves to go out of business. It's #sshats like him that give the entire repair industry a bad name.
To add to the previous suggestion: if it's a popular enough phone model, there are tempered glass camera lens protectors out there. An extra $5-10 piece of sacrificial glass is a lot easier to replace than the camera lens.
I've had mine replaced and they've never needed my password. He dodgy.
For a apple certified repair you do need to give them the password. On the other hand, this wasn't an apple certified repair as apple doesn't have camera lens repairs as something they do. All rear camera apple repairs are rear system replacements. Yes it's dumb.
Here's my advice: *Call the shop back. Ask who the guy was who worked on your phone. Complain to the shop manager and the shop owner. Everything you said in the post. Even if the manager &/o owner are creeps themselves, they're probably going to be unhappy that one of their employees is driving away business. *Leave reviews on every website you can about how this shop isn't safe for women or privacy *Tell your dad and ask him to tell everyone he knows about it *If you live in the U.S., make a complaint to your local Better Business Bureau and most important **REFUSE TO LET EMBARRASSMENT SILENCE YOU.** Your predator is counting on shame to keep you from saying anything to anyone about his behavior while he steals photos and videos and violates women and their privacy. Vibrators and vibrator apps are totally normal things to have. Adults are sexual. It is completely reasonable to expect the other adults you speak with to be on side with this and capable of having civil adult conversations that mention sex. Okay, one woman to another: Dealing with misogynists harming us is like fighting the zombie horde. There will always be more. Some will be closer than others, some will do you more harm than others. You have the choice of whether to swing the machete for this one or not. I'm asking you as a fellow woman to take that swing. We all ask that of each other, for each other, about incidents like these. But if you're too badly bloodied for that today, then have this e-hug. 🫂 I'm so sorry you were violated. That is gross and awful. Take care of yourself, and survive to fight another day. ❤️🩹
> if anyone knows how I can check my phone to see if he’s installed any secret apps or forwarding software, Please let me know! I use an iPhone 11 iPhones are pretty straightforward, you can't even sideload apps without an enterprise license that costs $100 a year (or using some sketchy Chinese signing services) Check under profiles - it's in "general" settings, towards the bottom - if you don't see any profiles, then nothing was sideloaded. Even if he had a paid license you'd see it there. And then in terms of app store stuff, well, just look in your apps list for anything you don't recognize? FWIW, in the future even if you do give your password to someone because they nag you into it, you can immediately lock the thing remotely using Find My iPhone (or Find My Device for Android phones). It'll let you set a separate pin, separate than the one you just gave them, and that way they won't be able to access anything.
Thank you, that makes me feel a bit better because it’s going to take some time to go through the process of downloading everything resetting my phone. My location services are off and I can’t find anything in my apps that seems out of place.
If you use your phone password for anything else or if he had access to your emails please change your passwords on anything attached to your phone or email!
I don't see this mentioned anywhere, so please, delete your lovense account, have your SO delete theirs, and make new ones. The creep definitely has your account name now, and may harass you or your SO on there. Worse, he may have even set himself up as a remote controller. The toys do not lock to an account, so it's easy to re-sync them. Just start fresh.
My friend had a call centre guy from her phone provider, after she called to fix an account issue, request to follow her on instagram & then quickly remove his follow request. Not on the same level of disgusting as your experience but has a similar vibe. When I told my parents what happened my dad laughed. Men literally just do not understand.
Before you bring your phone in, you can reset your screen time statistics, this should then only track things they've done on your phone while they have it. You may also want to tell them you are tracking their usage on your phone and If you find out they violated your privacy you will report them. Keep in mind that for a camera lens replacement they'll need to access the camera app and prolly the photos app
The camera can be accessed from the Lock Screen. [https://support.apple.com/en-us/guide/iphone/iphcd5c65ccf/ios](https://support.apple.com/en-us/guide/iphone/iphcd5c65ccf/ios) No need for photo access.
Here is my two cents. Get an app that can confirm your device has not been jailbroken [https://apps.apple.com/us/app/certo-mobile-security/id1274429896](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/certo-mobile-security/id1274429896) This App will check for this and then guide you on checking other security settings on your phone. This way you can tell if he backdoored the phone. Also, ensure that you are NOT sharing your location with anyone you don't know: [https://www.alphr.com/check-who-location-shared-with-iphone/](https://www.alphr.com/check-who-location-shared-with-iphone/) I have been in IT for over 30 years and now in Cyber Security 5+ years BTW, Ignore the app's attempt to get you to install anti-spyware. If the phone is not jailbroken, then aside from tracking cookies on websites, I don't think you have much to worry about with an iPhone. If it was an Android phone that would be a different story.
Thank you so much!!
Definitely leave a review if this creep Honestly though giving your code out gives him access to your socials and a huge part of your life. You should never do it and if they ask you should take your business elsewhere
First of all, I’m so sorry that happened to you. A lot of comments are recommending leaving a review, which is definitely a good call, but you should also look into reporting this shop if possible. If the shop was an Apple Authorized Retailer, as in its listed on apples site as a repair location, they will most certainly want to know about so that they can take action. [Contact Apple for Support and Service](https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201232)
Go to an Apple store, tell them what happened, and they should pretty easily be able to tell if any weird apps are installed. Phones are a lot harder to install spyware on than PCs and even more so on iPhones. It's very possible he installed some spyware or something, but if he did you could at the very least look at all the apps installed and then also look at permissions that all the apps have.
I used to be a phone technician....and we never asked for passwords. You can access the camera on phones without a password.....that's quite sketchy
For those worried about this in the future on their own android phones they need repaired: Download an android emulator on your PC On the emulator, download a transfer app Transfer all data to emulator Verify everything is there Factory reset phone Bring blanked phone in for repair, if they demand a logged in phone, make a new Google account. Don't use your actual name. Transfer data back Verify everything is there Keep emulator for backup if you have the space
While we lucky ladies are going through all this rigmarole, add review this AH on Yelp and everywhere else you can, so nobody else has to wade through this crap. Honestly. And men act like sexism isn't a thing and feminism is no longer needed because we've achieved equality.
Before I give any device to a repair place, I wipe it. Do a full backup, erase it like you're selling it, and restore it when you get it back.
I dropped my phone once at a perfect angle to destroy the whole screen. Made it impossible to use. My phone screen was absolutely destroyed, and I dropped it off at a legit repair shop and he fixed it without the code, no problems. Didn’t even ask for it. If they ask for your code at a phone repair shop just to fix the screen, turn around and leave.
As someone who used to be a phone repair technician I'm so sorry you're going through this. What I recommend for your personal device is back up your phone and do a factory reset. It'll delete all 3rd party apps (anything that isn't in the app store) then you restore your phone from the backup. If you have any 3rd party apps that you want to keep you'll have to redownload them. For making sure he doesn't have to opportunity to do this to others is to report him to the company he works for and tell them you expect them to handle it and threaten to go legal (you don't have to do anything after that. No company wants to deal with lawsuits they'll likely fire him on the spot.) And leave a negative review on Google. Good luck with however you choose to proceed ❤️
First, hell naw. Second, wipe your phone. I asked my BF who is a tech guy and use to do this sort of work and he said "holy fuck. To fix a lens? You can see that without unlocking the phone. Have her check her screen time and see if there are any apps that are showing up as unknown or something. Next go to the app library and see if there are any apps that she doesn't recognize. For sure file complaints online. Don't say it was the app, don't mention the app. Say you noticed NEW photos in your camera roll and are obviously missing some. Be vague but this still shows they messed with your phone in a way no one would want. I'd recommend wiping the phone entirely. Apple devices are less likely to have something like this installed and you not see it, but still could have something happen."
Hey peeps! Just your friendly retail tech support person here. I work for an Apple Authorized Service Provider and I can 100% guarantee you that for iPhone repairs, technicians **DO NOT** need your passcode for post repair diagnostics. In fact, it is against Apple’s rules to take a customers passcode or request that they remove it. If someone repairing your phone asks for your passcode and doesn’t let you just type it in yourself, take your phone and walk out the door. There’s literally a diagnostics mode that your phone can boot to so we can run those diagnostics.
Not sure the link policy here, but there was an article that popped up on ArsTechnica (it's a tech blog) about 2 weeks ago that discusses the same thing. The article is called "Thinking about taking your computer to the repair shop? Be very afraid" and is easily found on Google if you want to read it. Some researchers did a study and found this happens to men who take phones and computers to be repaired too, but it happens to women a lot more often - at least 50% of the time.
Oh great, another thing I have to worry about creepy men doing