Laptop Stolen-But Logon has password

Tim Rude wrote:

You might get lucky and the thief will take it to a computer repair shop to
get his "forgotten password" removed.

We had a guy bring a laptop to the shop the other day with that story. Told
him to leave it with us and we'd call when ready. Poked through the files
and found info on the real owner. Called him and confirmed that the laptop
was indeed stolen 4 days prior. Police came. Owner got his laptop back.
Thief got squat.

Owner didn't press charges so all the thief got was a good chewing out when
he called me to see if the laptop was ready to pick up.

Call the local computer shops and ask them to be on the lookout for your
laptop, in case your thief is as clueless as the one we dealt with. Be sure
to report to police too.

While I laud your efforts at snubbing a thief (alas not in his capture
since the owner didn't press charges), I have to wonder if you legally
had the right to invade privacy by rummaging through files which were
obviously NOT part of what you were contracted to perform.

If I were to give my computer over to a shop to, say, replace a
defective part, like the PSU, I certainly am not signing over to them
the right that they go digging into my files. Giving access to your
property still have assigned rights as to what the other party can do
with your property. When I invite friends over to my house, I don't
expect nor want them to go powering up my computer to read my files,
rummage through my file cabinets, break open lockboxes, poke into my
wallet on the dresser. Just because I invite them over for dinner
doesn't give them license to practice forensic investigation on my
property.

When someone signs a work order with you, does the contract displayed on
that work order actually permit you to rummage through the user's files
or to do anything outside just whatever actions you were contracted to
perform? If so, you saved your butt. If not, a licentious user could
make big trouble for you.

I'm not promoting theft. I'm concerned that your service contract might
not permit you to invade the user's privacy without their overt consent.
Unless stated in the contract they sign with you, them asking you to
replace memory modules (to increase physical RAM) is not permission for
you to dig into the files on their hard disk. If I hired someone to
repair a broken leg on an old rolldesk, I'm not giving them permission
to read any papers left inside. Yes, there's the practicality aspect
that you are handing your property over to someone else but the legal
aspect doesn't care other than what was covered (implicitly or
explicitly) by the contract for service. Hopefully your actions are
covered in the terms of the contract or work order that the customer
must sign. You need to cover your legal butt.

"VanguardLH" wrote in message
...
Tim Rude wrote:

You might get lucky and the thief will take it to a computer repair shop
to
get his "forgotten password" removed.

We had a guy bring a laptop to the shop the other day with that story.
Told
him to leave it with us and we'd call when ready. Poked through the files
and found info on the real owner. Called him and confirmed that the
laptop
was indeed stolen 4 days prior. Police came. Owner got his laptop back.
Thief got squat.

Owner didn't press charges so all the thief got was a good chewing out
when
he called me to see if the laptop was ready to pick up.

Call the local computer shops and ask them to be on the lookout for your
laptop, in case your thief is as clueless as the one we dealt with. Be
sure
to report to police too.

While I laud your efforts at snubbing a thief (alas not in his capture
since the owner didn't press charges), I have to wonder if you legally
had the right to invade privacy by rummaging through files which were
obviously NOT part of what you were contracted to perform.

If I were to give my computer over to a shop to, say, replace a
defective part, like the PSU, I certainly am not signing over to them
the right that they go digging into my files. Giving access to your
property still have assigned rights as to what the other party can do
with your property. When I invite friends over to my house, I don't
expect nor want them to go powering up my computer to read my files,
rummage through my file cabinets, break open lockboxes, poke into my
wallet on the dresser. Just because I invite them over for dinner
doesn't give them license to practice forensic investigation on my
property.

When someone signs a work order with you, does the contract displayed on
that work order actually permit you to rummage through the user's files
or to do anything outside just whatever actions you were contracted to
perform? If so, you saved your butt. If not, a licentious user could
make big trouble for you.

I'm not promoting theft. I'm concerned that your service contract might
not permit you to invade the user's privacy without their overt consent.
Unless stated in the contract they sign with you, them asking you to
replace memory modules (to increase physical RAM) is not permission for
you to dig into the files on their hard disk. If I hired someone to
repair a broken leg on an old rolldesk, I'm not giving them permission
to read any papers left inside. Yes, there's the practicality aspect
that you are handing your property over to someone else but the legal
aspect doesn't care other than what was covered (implicitly or
explicitly) by the contract for service. Hopefully your actions are
covered in the terms of the contract or work order that the customer
must sign. You need to cover your legal butt.

In this case, the name on the only user account on the laptop clearly did
not match the name of the individual who claimed the laptop was his. Without
looking at the contents of any file, I noticed that the save date of the
most recent documents was within the last week, and that documents dated
back approximately 2 years. Given that the story sounded 'hinky' and it
seemed highly unlikely that someone who had used the laptop for 2 years up
until a week ago would suddenly forget his password, we called the customer
and asked more questions. He stated that his 'uncle' had given him the
laptop, and provided a name and phone number for this person. The 'uncle'
said that it had been his wife's laptop and thus he didn't know the
password. However the name on the user account was male and didn't match the
'uncle' or his wife, and a Google search of that name (it was quite a
distinct name) turned up information about the real owner and where he
worked (a college professor in our town). We called the college, the campus
police confirmed that the laptop had been reported stolen, and the professor
got back his property with his privacy intact.

I didn't invade the user's privacy. The idiot who brought in the laptop
contracted with us to unlock it because he wasn't smart enough to do it
himself. Part of unlocking it is determining the user account name and that
in itself was enough to make the story seem highly suspicious.

I hope that if your thief is stupid enough to take your laptop to a
reputable shop to unlock it, someone there will have enough common sense to
think about the story he tells and maybe you'll see your stuff again. Or
they might be so worried about a licentious customer that they just close
their eyes, do the work, collect their pittance, and your laptop will be
gone forever.

In ,
Tim Rude typed on Mon, 9 Nov 2009 15:19:36 -0600:
... and a Google search of that name (it was quite a distinct name)
turned up information about the real owner and where he worked (a
college professor in our town). We called the college, the campus
police confirmed that the laptop had been reported stolen, and the
professor got back his property with his privacy intact.

Did the professor pay a reward? Or did he just say thanks?

--
Bill
Gateway MX6124 ('06 era) - Windows XP SP2

"BillW50" wrote in message
...
In ,
Tim Rude typed on Mon, 9 Nov 2009 15:19:36 -0600:
... and a Google search of that name (it was quite a distinct name)
turned up information about the real owner and where he worked (a
college professor in our town). We called the college, the campus
police confirmed that the laptop had been reported stolen, and the
professor got back his property with his privacy intact.

Did the professor pay a reward? Or did he just say thanks?

--
Bill
Gateway MX6124 ('06 era) - Windows XP SP2


Unfortunately, just a thanks. We should have charged the guy who brought the
laptop in advance. But as it was we ended up with nothing out of the deal
except the satisfaction of doing the right thing.

In ,
Tim Rude typed on Mon, 9 Nov 2009 16:47:02 -0600:
"BillW50" wrote in message
...
In ,
Tim Rude typed on Mon, 9 Nov 2009 15:19:36 -0600:
... and a Google search of that name (it was quite a distinct name)
turned up information about the real owner and where he worked (a
college professor in our town). We called the college, the campus
police confirmed that the laptop had been reported stolen, and the
professor got back his property with his privacy intact.

Did the professor pay a reward? Or did he just say thanks?

Unfortunately, just a thanks. We should have charged the guy who
brought the laptop in advance. But as it was we ended up with nothing
out of the deal except the satisfaction of doing the right thing.

Gee if it was my stolen laptop, I surely would have gladly paid a reward
for your trouble. You would think a professor would have more sense than
that. :-(

--
Bill
Gateway MX6124 ('06 era) - Windows XP SP2