Police State: Rent-To-Buy Company “Aaron’s” Spies On PC Users

Alex Thomas
The Intel Hub

A lawsuit filed on Tuesday alleges that Aaron’s, a huge furniture rent to buy company, used software and a special device on their computers that enabled them to spy on PC renters.

According to the lawsuit, the company is able to track keystrokes and snap webcam pictures in the home of their customers.

Brian and Crystal Byrd, the couple who filed the lawsuit, claim that they were never told about these intrusive spying measures.

While computer privacy experts agree that Aaron’s has the right to install devices that enable them to shut down the computers remotely, customers must be told that they are being monitored.

The couple only found out about the spying after an Aaron’s employee showed them a picture of Brian Byrd that was taken remotely while the Byrds were in their home.

“After they showed us the picture, I, of course, felt violated,” Crystal Byrd said in an interview Monday. “There are many times I sat in front of that computer with barely nothing on. So I didn’t know if they had taken lots of pictures of us or what,” reported the Wyoming Tribune.

Brian Byrd also reported that he thinks the picture was shown to him in order to intimidate him into an easy repossession.

Unfortunately, private companies aren’t the only ones that have been accused of snapping pictures of unsuspecting people in their homes.

In April 2010 a Pennsylvania school took pictures of a half dressed student who had a school issued laptop.

“A suburban Philadelphia school district snapped secret webcam pictures of a high school student when he was partially undressed or sleeping in his bed, and captured instant messages he exchanged with friends, the student charged in court papers this week,” The Associated Press reported on April 16th, 2010.

Schools, private companies, and government agencies should all be held accountable for their actions. Our country was founded on the principles of freedom and liberty, principles that are now being openly broken through the electronic surveillance of the American people.