Aimeé
A smartphone is basically a tiny computer you carry in your pocket that holds keys to all your most private info and anytime it breaks down, you have to hand that info over to a total stranger. What happens when that stranger isn’t trustworthy?
A woman named Gloria Fuentes lived out that particular nightmare recently after going to an Apple store in Bakersfield, CA. She posted about what happened on Facebook, and it’s an upsetting story.
Fuentes says she needed her phone screen repaired, and she tried to prepare for her Apple store appointment by deleting any financial apps and social media apps to protect her privacy.
But her appointment got changed and she didn’t have time to back up and delete all her photos. When she arrived, she spoke with a tech guy named Nic.
So I go in, I give the guy my phone he’s messing around with it for quiet a while and I didn’t really pay any mind to it because I just figured he’s doing his job, looking into my insurance info or whatever. He asked me for my passcode TWICE in that time frame which I, at the time, still didn’t think anything of.
So turns out I had to go through my phone company to fix my screen or whatever and I leave. I walk in my house turn on my phone about to text someone and realize there’s a message to an unsaved number!!!!! I open it and instantly wanted to cry!!!
This guy went through my gallery and sent himself one of my EXTREMELY PERSONAL pictures that I took for my boyfriend and it had my geolocation on so he also knows where I live!!! AND THIS PICTURE WAS FROM ALMOST A YEAR AGO SO HE HAD TO HAVE SCROLLED UP FOR A WHILE TO GET TO THAT PICTURE being that I have over 5,000 pics in my phone!!!!
Fuentes was totally disgusted and says she cried knowing this strange man had stolen her nudes when he was supposed to be helping her.
But she didn’t just take it. She went back to the store and confronted Nic, who admitted it was his number but said that “he doesn’t know how that pic got sent.”
The Apple store manager told Fuentes he’d look into it, but Fuentes doesn’t think that’s good enough. She’s planning to press legal charges, but even more than that, she’s sharing her story because so many young people, like teens, have phones and probably nudes. She’s horrified by the thought of someone like Nic doing this to a kid.
https://www.facebook.com/gloriaelisa.fuentes/posts/1409607202535792
A spokesman for Apple told Eyewitness News that the employee was investigated and fired:
“We are grateful to the customer for bringing this deeply concerning situation to our attention. Apple immediately launched an internal investigation and determined that the employee acted far outside the strict privacy guidelines to which we hold all Apple employees. He is no longer associated with our company.”
There is also an open investigation with the Bakersfield Police Department, so it’s possible that this Nic will face criminal charges. Which he should.
Judging by the way he went through Fuentes’ photos, this is probably something he’s done quite a lot—though he didn’t have the sense to delete a record of his text on her phone. Not all creeps are that stupid, however, so Fuentes is right to warn people to protect themselves when they can. No one should violate your privacy like this. Make it as hard as possible for them to, and support brave people like Fuentes, who is willing to share her what happened to her to protect others.
