Right to privacy?
From zdnet comes an interesting conundrum.
A man takes his computer to Circuit City to have them install a DVD burner. While the techs are testing it, they find what appears to be child pornography on his hard drive and turn him in. The cops come, seize the computer as evidence, and when the customer returns, they arrest him.
Okay, what complete tool needs Circuit City to install new hardware? That’s just sad. But, whatever, that’s not really the issue.
Naturally, child pornography makes me want to burn holes in somebody’s face. But did said tool have an expectation of privacy? Did the techs at Circuit City have the right to pilfer through his files?
Because of the nature of the files, of course I want to see this tool be prosecuted. But I’m struggling with the privacy issue. Do we have an expectation of privacy when we bring our computers in to be repaired?
I guess the bigger question for me is would I be less conflicted and leaning more towards the expectation of privacy if the videos found were considered “unpatriotic” instead of child porn.
Discuss.