Man claims staff at Malaysia phone repair shop viewed his ‘hidden’ photo album
A phone repair shop in Shah Alam, Malaysia has been accused of viewing a customer’s “hidden” photo album while servicing his device.
In a TikTok video, the customer explained that he visited to fix his phone’s Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) screen, believing the shop provided the best service.
Later, however, he allegedly discovered that his files, including those in his hidden photo album, had been assessed.
Source: @dekk.mar on TikTok
He explained that the hidden album contained screenshots of sensitive information, including passwords to his bank and social media accounts.
The “AirDrop” function on his phone was also set to “everyone”, leading him to believe his data had been shared with a third party.
Source: @dekk.mar on TikTok
Man confronts technicians about alleged breach of privacy
Angered by the alleged breach of privacy, the man returned to the shop and questioned the staff member why they had accessed his photo gallery.
“They said it was to view the latest photo and check whether the camera was broken or not, but why did they dig into my hidden album without asking me first?” he questioned.
Asked to return the piece of tape where he wrote his phone password, the staff claimed it was gone, but the man later spotted it on the microscope they used to repair devices.
The man was eventually offered free items such as tempered glass and camera lenses. Another technician was also assigned to fix his phone’s broken screen.
Source: @dekk.mar on TikTok
The OP stated that he posted the video of the confrontation to prevent others from falling victim to privacy breaches during phone repairs.
The video, posted on TikTok last week, has since gained over 647,000 views at the time of writing.
Technicians offer advice on how to keep phone secure during repair
While many users thanked the OP for spreading awareness about the issue, others — including technicians — provided advice on how to prevent repairmen from accessing their data.
One TikTok user advised not to disclose their passwords to repairmen if they are only tasked with servicing the device’s hardware.
Source: TikTok
However, a technician argued they need the password to test some phone’s components, but owners can opt to monitor the process to ensure their privacy is not breached.
Source: TikTok
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Featured image adapted from @dekk.mar on TikTok.
