Reply to post: Class Action suit? FBI paying bounty for illegal searches of photos, emails and documents?

Don't gripe if you hand your PC to Geek Squad and they rat you out to the Feds – judge

WatAWorld

Class Action suit? FBI paying bounty for illegal searches of photos, emails and documents?

The agency has a close relationship with Geek Squads, and offers $500 bounties for successful finds of illegal material.

Rettenmaier's defense team had argued that this was an invalid search, but Judge Carney ruled that is was legitimate since the defendant had signed a contract with the Geek Squad that contains a warning that illegal material will be reported.

Is this correct:

1. So the FBI was either knowingly paying for illegal searches, or turning a blind eye to the fact that $500 is going to cause illegal searches.

2. The searches include any material relating to crime or possible crime, including emails and documents.

3. The FBI is paying Geek Squad, and Geek Squad is accepting, payment for searching and viewing all sorts of emails, documents and pictures on everyone's computer, hoping for a $500 bounty.

4. The illegal material in this was not stumbled across, but discovered after an active search paid for by the potential for the FBI bounty.

I think there is a class action suit possible on behalf of all Geek Squad customers whose confidentially was violated by the existence of this FBI bounty and Geek Squad's acceptance of it.

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