As reported on the ABA Journal, a federal lawsuit has been filed by a couple from Casper, Wyoming against the rental company Aaron’s. The lawsuit contends that Aaron’s, Inc. installed software on a the couple’s laptop in order to take webcam photos, monitor keystrokes, take screenshots and otherwise spy on their customers.
The couple, Brian Byrd, and his wife, Crystal, learned about the software on their computer when Aaron’s manager showed up on their doorstep toting a photo of Brian Byrd, which was taken by the installed spyware.
"It feels like we were pretty much invaded, like somebody else was in our house," Brian Byrd told the AP yesterday before the suit was filed. "It's a weird feeling, I can't really describe it. I had to sit down for a minute after he showed me that picture."
In the statement, Aaron's noted that the plaintiffs "leased the computer at issue from an independently owned and operated franchisee" and that Aaron's "has not authorized any of its corporate stores to install software that can activate a customer's webcam, capture screenshots, or track keystrokes."
I wonder how long this practice has been going on, I had a rent-to-own contract on a computer with Aaron's in 2002-2003.
Posted by: Steve Dyar | 2011.05.05 at 13:00