Rental Firms May be Allowed to Spy on Customers With Webcams

dailytech.com

"Error: my sensor is dirty. Please take me in a steamy area... such as your shower."

Some may recall that back in May news broke of an Aaron's Inc. (AAN) franchisee remotely spying on users with a webcam to make sure they were making payments. The incident led to one outraged couple filing suit against the company, seeking class action status.

Unfortunately for that couple -- Crystal and Brian Byrd -- there case was dealt a serious setback by Judge Sean Mclaughlin, a judge with the US District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania (Erie District).

In his ruling [Google Docs], the judge refused to grant a preliminary injunction, which would have banned Aaron's and its franchisees from both continuing to monitor users with the "PC Rental Agent" remote webcam spykit and from conducting activities to obfuscate which computers had the spykit installed.

In denying the injunction, Judge Mclaughlin opens the door to continued monitoring of users, and to the company disguising how many users it monitors.

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Spy Clock helps you keep tabs at home

cg
Are you suspicious that the tap at home keeps on leaking, and the handyman who drops by is beefier than Mr. America? Well, you might want to make sure the missus isn’t two-timing you behind your back then with the help of the £79.99 Spy Clock (surely that is much cheaper than hiring a private investigator, although a device such as a Spy Clock certainly needs a whole lot more providence to catch someone in the act). This might just be one of the smartest spy gadgets around, looking pretty classy to be placed anywhere in your home while holding an almost-invisible video camera with a motion and sound detector, ready at any opportunity to snap a photo which might lead to incriminating evidence. If its 4GB capacity isn’t up to your liking, you can always expand it further with another microSD memory card. All photos can be transferred over to your computer when no one’s looking via USB.

SECURITY ALERT! Latest New Video Spy Gadget

Note: This "Spy Gadget Security Alert" just in from our friend "Mike", so pay attention! You know the drill. He’d tell where he got this secret information from....but then he'd have to.....well, you know! JDL

mattel.com

Barbie® Video Girl™ Doll

Budding Spymasters, take note: Barbie® doll now doubles as a video camera! Girls (or little Spies in training) can record and play back clips with this multi-tasking doll, which has a video camera built right in. Capture everything from a doll's-eye-view, then watch it instantly or upload to your computer. There's an LCD screen on Barbie® doll's back, and a camera lens hidden discreetly in her necklace. Talk about spying on your enemies in style!



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Is your web cam spying on you?

kwgn.com
DENVER - Web cameras make it easy to keep in touch with far away friends and family. If you have a web cam on your home computer, laptop or even your cell phone, a hacker can be lurking, just waiting for a chance to gain control.

Right now, hackers are spying on innocent users via their web cam and microphones. It starts with a simple email, link or program sent to you.

"The bad guys go out there and find vulnerabilities in different applications and programs," says Michael Gregg, COO of Superior Solutions Inc.

Once you click on it, your computer is overrun by the hacker's program.

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Nanny Cam Catches Alleged Babysitter Abuse On Tape

www.10tv.com
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A mother who ran a babysitting service out of her home was behind bars Friday, charged with child abuse.

Gianna Cochran was charged with felonies involving sexual and physical abuse of children between the ages of 8 months and 2-years-old, 10TV's Kevin Landers reported.

Police said the alleged crimes happened in an apartment last year and involved at least five children.

A parent of an alleged victim suspected something was wrong with his daughter and helped alert police, Landers reported.

"I kept telling my fianc that was something wrong because (my daughter) always come home crying you know, every time we left there she would ball," said the parent, who requested anonymity.

The parent said that it started when the girl's mother raised questions to the babysitter about their daughter's face.

"She saw blotchiness, red on her face and neck," the parent said. "And she wanted to know what's going on and she said she was just crying."

Their suspicions of alleged abuse were verified months later, when police knocked on their door with a video," Landers reported.

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