Best Buy Denies Geek Squad-FBI Links

Consumer electronics retailer Best Buy Co Inc BBY has denied allegations that the FBI used Geek Squad for secret public surveillance.

A report by OCWeekly says the federal agency trained company technicians on law-enforcement operational tactics, shared lists of targeted citizens and, to covertly increase surveillance of the public, encouraged searches of computers even when unrelated to a customer's request for repairs.

Newly unsealed court documents suggest Best Buy has secretly teamed with the FBI to perform completely warrantless searches of customer computers.

The documents in question apply to Unites States vs. Mark Rettenmaier, a child pornography case in which the illegal content was discovered by a Best Buy Geek Squad technician who then reported it to the FBI.

But, Best Buy has strongly rebuffed the charges and issued the following statement to Benzinga:

"To be clear, Best Buy and Geek Squad have no relationship with the FBI and never have. We have not been trained by the FBI nor have we ever shared customer lists, conducted surveillance or searched customer computers for them. Our policies prohibit Geek Squad agents from accessing customer content other than what is absolutely necessary to solve the customer’s problem so we can maintain their privacy and keep up with our volume of repairs.

“On occasion, our repair agents inadvertently discover material that may be child pornography. They are not looking for it. But when it is discovered, we have a legal and moral obligation to turn that material over to law enforcement. We are proud of our policy and share it with our customers before we begin any repair.”

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Image: Mike Mozart, Flickr