In a shocking development, several rent-to-own companies and a software developer settled the charges that were filed against them, involving installation of a spyware to observe the passwords and other pertinent details of those who rented their computers.
About 420,000 individuals were monitored by this unscrupulous businesses and the software PC Rental Agent, which was developed by DesignerWare.
One feature of the software called as the Detective Mode enabled managers of those rent-to-own machines to spy on the guest and turn on their webcams remotely to view the individual who was using the machine on that time.
Federal Trade Commission lawyers said that the Detective Mode enabled individuals to capture naked persons and people, even engaging in intimate activites.
The companies that are involved in the case were Aspen Way Inc., Premier Rental Purchase, C.A.L.M Ventures Inc., ColorTyme, Showplace Rent-to-Own, also known as Showplace Lease/Purchase, and Watershed and Aaron’s Sales & Lease Ownership.
The settlement included the defendants agreeing to curd data-collecting software on their rental computers and to cease to use deception to gather information amongst its clientele.
If you have leased a computer in one of the companies above, better make sure that they are not included in the case, as they might have privacy issues.
Image Source: knowtoomuch.com
