Photo: Geek Squad/Best Buy
Attacking our liberty? Or, simply measures to protect us from harm?
It’s no secret the FBI has been doing anything it can to get our information. Evidently, the FBI’s brazen attempts to hack into our personal lives has included an FBI connection with possibly your favorite Geek Squad member from Best Buy.
According to new reports, the FBI paid Geek Squad employees to act as informants, gathering and reporting information from customer’s computers for at least the last decade.
The FBI has been in cahoots with Best Buy’s Geek Squad for at least the past decade, new documents obtained by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit reveal.
An FBI memo obtained by the nonprofit digital rights group reveals that Best Buy in September 2008 hosted a meeting of the law enforcement agency’s Cyber Working Group at a Geek Squad repair facility in Kentucky. The memo indicates that the local FBI division “has maintained close liaison with the Geek Squad’s management in an effort to glean case initiations and to support the division’s Computer Intrusion and Cyber Crime programs.”
It was last year when a California doctor was charged with child pornography after a Geek Squad member allegedly illegally hacked his computer, finding the pornography with request of the FBI. The man was arrested and charged but the evidence never held up in court.
Best Buy has acknowledged that they “may have” received payment by the FBI over the alleged child porn case but also claim those employees who took the money have been either reprimanded, reassigned or fired. Best Buy also said they “inadvertently” find child pornography on people’s machines “nearly 100 times a year.” In such cases they call police immediately. I would hope so.
And, of course, the FBI has declined comment.
It’s scary to think that ‘big brother’ is always watching. But it’s the truth. Mark Zuckerberg puts tape over his webcam for God’s sake.
We all want predators to be put behind bars, but the first logical question to come to mind is where do you draw the line between protecting our families and eliminating any sense of privacy whatsoever? That being said, is it weird that I have no problem with this situation?
If there are really bad dudes out there doing unthinkable things, find them at nearly whatever the cost and lock them up. If it takes a ‘geek’ to do it, so be it.
These interns can also work with Geek Squad: FBI Interns Let Twitter Ask Them Questions And Obviously Things Didn’t Go As Expected
Josh Helmuth is a contributor for Mandatory and an informant for his fantasy baseball league.
