this post was submitted on 18 Nov 2023
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T-Mobile sued after employee stole nude images from customer phone during trade-in::T-Mobile has been sued again for failing to protect consumer data after an employee at one of its Washington stores stole nude images off of a customer's phone.

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[–] Chilihuahua 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Plug it into a computer and delete the files that way?

[–] xkforce 14 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (4 children)

Youve never actually had that happen if you think its that easy.

Guys no...

  1. You cant wipe a phone remotely with your google sign on unless "find my device" is enabled, which it never was.

  2. My phone does not just give access automatically to any device plugged into it. You are REQUIRED to give permission from the phone. Which cant be done because the screen is fucked.

  3. Your phone SHOULDNT be accessible in this scenario because allowing any device to just plug in and download everything with no authentication is a security risk.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

It is still possible to unlock an android phone with a fucked screen.

I had to do this once and managed to unlock the phone with a USB mouse. It took me a while to get the right pattern, but it is possible.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

I mean sure it’s not easy to remote wipe if you never set up the feature that lets you remote wipe.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

My phone does not just give access automatically to any device plugged into it. You are REQUIRED to give permission from the phone. Which cant be done because the screen is fucked.

The first ever Android I had (Galaxy S4) was sadly dropped by a friend, and the oled screen was toast within a few days... thankfully I had previously authorized ADB on my main computer, had it paired to a Sony Ericsson LiveView (with OpenLiveView), and my bluetooth headset was set up to automatically launch the music player when connected. Could also make calls using the voice assistant (forgot what it was called back then, S-Voice or something?) needless to say a screen replacement wasn't urgent at all.

Can't say I'd be able to do the same nowadays on modern Android with all the forced app killing and stuff, as well as Google Assistant being a massive downgrade (believe most useful actions on a smashed device would require unlocking, and on-screen confirmation)

[–] [email protected] -5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

It depends on how the phone is setup and whether or not you have plugged in to a pc before. It sounds like it's you that has that no idea.

Most android phones (can't speak to Apple) are pretty much plug and play via USB. Plug it in and browse the files on it, it's slow as hell and may be retrievable by software designed to undelete files but it's doable, you may have to approve the connection on the phone but if you have plugged it in prior then you probable don't have to.

[–] xkforce 11 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Dude the goddamned phone requires that you confirm permission to access or manipulate anything on that phone. You cant just plug a usb cable in and fuck with everything. What the hell sort of phones do you guys buy that it just does that with no security measures?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Nope. Had this happen with my wife's phone. Because developer mode had not been enabled previously and the screen was completely inactive, there was absolutely no way to wipe the phone.

Choice was either pay a stupid amount of money to get the screen repaired (and I've had a bad experience with screen repairs actually working) or bin the phone and hope that nobody bothers to try and fix and then gain access. :/