Sunday, October 27, 2013

Aaron's computer rental chain settles FTC spying charges


Today, security is a main concern to all of us due to a high development of technology.

It was reported that Atlanta-based Aaron's rent-to-own computer chain has been surreptitiously snapping Webcam photos of its customers’ and recording them via spyware. Thus, Aaron's facilitated a violation of many consumers' privacy.

The company has been accused of knowingly installing software onto its computers that secretly monitored its customers. Recently, the Federal Trade Commission caught onto the Aaron's alleged tactics and filed a complaint against the company, and the chain agreed to settle with the FTC.

According to the FTC's complaint, Aaron's software tracked customers' locations, took photos with the computers' Webcams "including those of adults engaged in intimate activities," and activated key loggers that were able to capture login credentials for everything from e-mail to FaceBook to banking sites.

Under the terms of the settlement, Aaron's is prohibited from using monitoring technology that captures keystrokes, takes photos, or records sound. The company must also get customer consent before it uses location-tracking software on its rental computers.

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