Aarons Rental caught spying on it's customers
 

Saw this on the news this morning.

We are getting closer to the point of personal privacy being a thing of the past.

" A computer rental store has been caught spying on customers through their webcams, court papers reveal.
Rental chain Aaron’s installed secret software on laptops that let it track the keystrokes, screenshots and even webcam images of clients as they used their computers at home, it is claimed.

A Wyoming couple are suing the rental giant, which has 1,679 stores, for breach of privacy after they discovered covert images taken of them using their rented laptop.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz1LU4dcTjJ

damn i hope the place i bought my comp enjoys watching me type "xvideos" then twisting one off.

just unbelievable

I should stick a patch on my webcam just in case
you never know...

Court papers allege that Aaron?s told police that they install the software on all their rental computers.

I thought of that too when I read it :)

Then I thought of making designer eye patches for computers to sell on the internet :upsidedow

Aarons admits to installing the software and the software developer admits to selling it to Aarons. Getting customers personal information is one thing but capturing images of the customers in their home using the webcam is taking it to another level.

Might not be a bad ideal, I remember a school giving the kids laptops and then spying on them.

This made me laugh, but then again.. who knows, you might knock up a fortune with that idea if things keep getting worse :1orglaugh

Another fucked up thing about Aaron's rental is that they have figured out a way to manipulate State laws and use the local police as their collection agency. If you rent something and refuse to return the merchandise, they will get you arrested (Felony 3) for failure to redeliver. My office is upstairs from my friend's lawfirm and he gets cases like this all the time.

This guy came in, 38 years old, perfectly clean record and the father of 3. He did a rent to own on a living room set and paid them over $3,200. Well over the actual value of the set. When he refused to pay the remaining money and kept the furniture, the cops came to his work and arrested him. I mean how fucked up is that?!!?! I wish I could use the State as my collection agency.

All of those rent to own places are crooks! That's why they advertise and have their stores in "poor" neighborhoods. They prey on people with questionable credit and income. If you ever use one of those places, you're an idiot.

What kind of person rents a laptop? Reminds me of a guy I know that was renting a 55 inch LCD for over $100 a month. Too stupid to realize he could own his own if he just saved for several months.:disgust

Of course someone can use some tape or something to cover the camera but I'm sure there are people out there that would be willing to buy one as a gag gift or conversation piece.

Make different themed designs like a pirate with a red circle with line through it ( no pirates ) or the same with peeping toms. Make one look like a ladybug or flower for the girls. Make a collection that's desirable or collectable. Sell as singles or in packs. Price cheap but over charge shipping and handling. Create thee brand that becomes popular and out sells the inevitable copycats ( there can only be one " Pet Rock " )

Somebody run with it.

I'm just an idea man :winkwink:

I was thinking the same - it doesn't really make sense

"Yeah man, but at the time I rented it, it was just 3 days before this chick I met
was coming over to my crib and I had just moved into this place.
You think I'm dumb but the TV actually came as part of a discount plan so
I could get the KING size bed with the double metal frame!
This chick was fucking big homie. She liked the TV, the couch, and the bed.
We rocked the house dawg!"


Two sides to every story.

:1orglaugh

:1orglaugh :1orglaugh someone is going to jail.

I never understood any of the renting of stuff like that but hey there must be a need for it or they wouldn't be doing it.

easy solution...

http://www.roadsidelumber.com/images...rical_tape.jpg

i have a laptop that this company gave me to use, mainly to connect to their network. first thing I did was remove any and all remove login and admin accounts, then I put electrical tape over the webcam and microphone port.

yeah but their installing keyloggers :helpme

Some people are just addicted to buying shit and living above their means.

I've got a friend who buys stuff rent to own. She also takes out payday loans, has an interest only mortgage on her house and is on her second bankruptcy. :(

She was going to get a laptop from aarons, it was 2 years old and had a sticker price over $700 (I'm sure it factors out to be close to twice that after payments). I just bought her a $400 Dell and she makes me bi-weekly $40 payments till she pays it off.

I probably shouldn't have helped her out, but at this stage in the game I can't tell her anything I haven't told her a 100 times before. Just didnt want to see her get ripped off even more, that shit is just ridiculous.

So, the guy decided he had paid enough and stopped, but kept the property. How is that not theft?

Never understood how enough people were dumb enough to use those places to keep them open. But they do so well that they sponsor in NASCAR and such. Can't be cheap.

I dont see how they can get away with not disclosing such spying though.

All of those rent to own places are crooks! that is not a very fair assessment, they provide a service to people with NO credit. Yes, they charge up the ass, but the times they get fucked for the furniture and tv's etc , must be staggering. You dont have to use them ,that is the bottom line:2 cents:

If you default on a car payment, it goes into repo and you hide it and continue to drive it. Isn't that theft? Why can't banks or auto dealerships file criminal charges against you? I know a guy who's been hiding a 42' Carver Yacht from the bank for more than 2 years and they're not arresting him for theft. It's a $1M boat, not some furniture set that cost them $300 and they sold for $3,500.

My complaint is that OUR tax dollars are being used to arrest people who default on their payments to Rent to Own places. They're using the police as their collection agency and that's just not right. It's a civil matter and should be handled accordingly. :2 cents:

Sorry JFK, I didn't mean to bundle them all together. I'm sure there are some honest hard working stores that don't thrive on ripping people off. But in my experience, they are no better than Buy-Here-Pay-Here car lots that repo your car after one late payment. But even the car dealerships can't use the law to enforce their collections.

I love my SysAdmin's response:
Nate
9:01
wow... that's retarded
9:02 and who would rent a laptop? Seriously just save up for a couple months and buy a netbook and save a ton of money...

Back when MTV used to cover spring break in Daytona a friend rented a house just off the beach so we could be close to work ( he had a temp business aimed at the spring breakers ). The house was old and with very limited furnishings. Since we were only renting for a month we went to one of those rental places like Aarons and got a big tv, stereo system and a couple nice chairs to make the place more livable. It was a bit on the expensive side but was an ok short term solution.

you're a good friend, there have been many times in my life I would have appreciated a friend like that. I hope she is grateful and understands what you did for her :2 cents:

If the loophole did not exist it could not be used. There is no way I can address your comparison since you have a ton of unknown variables, beginning with the state the contract is enforced under and the contract between the provider and the end user.

I would think the first difference would be one is renting and one is buying. Seems like a fairly significant difference.

damn thats shady business! good thing I own mine

Thank you :)

it is not theft, it is default on credit

if I loan you $20 and you are too broke to pay me back, it is not theft, for I chose to give you the credit, big difference

it is ridiculous that they can use the police as their collection agents, backwards States having laws allowing that :2 cents:

your common sense is not wanted in this thread :1orglaugh:1orglaugh

Your reliance being?

how about renting a car then refusing to take it back ? did you steal a car ?

you are comparing buying with renting.. not the same deal .. even if it is RENT to own! you are still RENTING .. not straight up BUYING :2 cents:

yes because its all in the contract. that rental item stuff is different. rental cars they will call police on your ass. :1orglaugh

So much free skeezy footage, so little time. Wonder how many webmasters are Aarons managers.

Rental stores like Aaron's prey on the poor and stupid - bet they are doing great though.

theres no such thing as freedom

Sure there is, it is quite costly though. :2 cents:

Who's this angry little dude?

Yeah, that is pretty fucking smart.

I wonder if Microsoft does this on the Xbox Live network with the Kinect. That thing has a 3D camera in it.

I have the Kinect and one time I was playing Black Ops online with my sister and I told her I was going to put down the headset and controller and take a short break. Got up and took a piss, got a drink out of the fridge and told the dog to quit licking his balls. Got back online and she told me she could hear everything I did and described it perfectly even though I was pretty far from the Kinect.

To be fair there is a place on your console that you can set the Kinect to mute but it made me realize the power and potential of the system. MS has a very deep reach and it wouldn't surprise me one bit if one day they flipped a switch and suddenly had us all by the balls.

1984 is running a little behind schedule, but it will be bigger than Orwell ever imagined.