Legal computer snoop

[Calvinator]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? This question is relevant to West Virginia, but could be relevant to other states as well.

My sister is legally blind and uses the services of a local WV non-profit which provides free adaptive technology services for the visually impaired. The PC she uses (provided by this non-profit) needed repairs. When returned, the IT person said it was now set up so he could access the computer remotely for repairs, WITHOUT her consent. She said she preferred she'd have to give permission for him to access the PC. He got angry and accused her of insinuating he was spying on clients. (Kinda makes me think he is since he got mad.) After he calmed down she explained that she wasn't comfortable with him having free access to the PC as she works for another national based non-profit and said that was her preference. He apologized for his outburst and said that was was how it was going to be, insinuating if she didn't accept there would be no use of the PC.

This really worries me. Not saying he does this, but, not only could he access the personal and work files of any individual whose PC he worked on, he could also access their web cams as well.

Is it legal for him to have free access to a PC like that? Granted the PC belongs to the non-profit but the files are personal and work related.

Thanks,

Calvin

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? This question is relevant to West Virginia, but could be relevant to other states as well.

My sister is legally blind and uses the services of a local WV non-profit which provides free adaptive technology services for the visually impaired. The PC she uses (provided by this non-profit) needed repairs. When returned, the IT person said it was now set up so he could access the computer remotely for repairs, WITHOUT her consent. She said she preferred she'd have to give permission for him to access the PC. He got angry and accused her of insinuating he was spying on clients. (Kinda makes me think he is since he got mad.) After he calmed down she explained that she wasn't comfortable with him having free access to the PC as she works for another national based non-profit and said that was her preference. He apologized for his outburst and said that was was how it was going to be, insinuating if she didn't accept there would be no use of the PC.

This really worries me. Not saying he does this, but, not only could he access the personal and work files of any individual whose PC he worked on, he could also access their web cams as well.

Is it legal for him to have free access to a PC like that? Granted the PC belongs to the non-profit but the files are personal and work related.

Thanks,

Calvin

Here is a link to Norton, by Symantec, with information on remote repairs - advice on safeguarding your computer prior to repairs (e.g., encrypting any sensitive and confidential content), and precautions to take when selecting a remote computer repair service, and how to "watch" the repairs:

http://us.norton.com/yoursecurityresource/detail.jsp?aid=remote_computer_repair_services

 

[Zigner]

Your sister could simply return the computer to the non profit and get her own. Their computer, their rules.

 

[xylene]

Your sister's computer is the property of the organization, they are they system administrator, this sort of set up is very common as it saves time money and downtime for the user (your sister)

An alternate explanation for the tech getting upset is that she accused him of wild unprofessional behavior without basis for informing her of a service improvement, being able to repair the computer remotely.