An employee at an Auckland mobile repair store has been suspended after he allegedly tried to forward intimate photographs of a female customer to himself from a phone she took in to be fixed.
The customer confronted a manager at the store, Mobile Planet at Sylvia Park, while her friend Krisy Morrison recorded a video of the conversation.
The video posted yesterday has amassed close to 250,000 views on social media platform TikTok and provoked outrage.
Morrison told 1News her friend took her phone in to be repaired by Mobile Planet in Auckland's Sylvia Park Mall.
"She had received a notification on her phone that an Airdrop had failed. Someone had attempted to Airdrop an intimate photo of her to their phone."
Morrison said she was met with denial when she went to confront the workers but "kept pressing" because they had proof an historic unclad photo of the woman had been accessed.
"We wanted them to admit to what had been done."
Woman wanting her camera fixed but instead had an intimate image accessed and sent via Airdrop. (Source: 1News)
The manager is seen saying the worker did not look at the photographs, later backtracking and saying he had to check the camera was working.
After being questioned, the employee can be seen "fainting" in the video, something Morrison described as "very strange".
"Because we weren't leaving, I feel he was very overwhelmed by the situation, so he fainted, which was quite shocking."
Morrison said her friend was doing well following the "confronting" incident.
"She felt very violated and uncomfortable. I'm just glad we were able to raise some awareness and let others know out there about the situation, just to be careful when taking your phone into repair places.
"When you're entrusted with your customer's devices, privacy and confidentiality is a top priority."
Mobile Planet told 1News the employee's shifts had been cancelled "effective immediately" as an internal investigation was underway.
"We understand the gravity of the situation and are committed to upholding our responsibility to all parties involved," a statement from management said.
"Our priority remains the well-being and safety of our customers and the integrity of our services."
The store was "cooperating fully" with relevant authorities and was "dedicated" to resolving the matter, the statement continued.
Police confirmed a complaint had been received in relation to this incident.
"Police are making initial inquiries as part of our investigation," a spokesperson said.
NetSafe chief online safety officer Sean Lyons said incidents like this were "very serious".
"If you think about the amount of information, the amount of us that are on these devices, to give someone unfettered access to this is tantamount to a fairly big invasion of privacy if someone doesn't respect what they're doing."
When asked about handing over passwords or personal identification numbers, Lyons said businesses should be clear with customers about why it was necessary and why that access was required.
"If you're not happy with these answers, then it might be time to find somewhere else to do the job that you're trying to get done."
He also suggested putting sensitive data into password-protected folders or changing phones to factory settings when handing them over.
SHARE ME