[Christoph]

I guess technically repair service is a product...

Anyway, I posted a couple weeks ago in the Genius Bar about my sticky trackpad button on my iBook. I brought it to the Apple store, it was determined to be defective, and they said they'd have to send it in for repairs.

Now, I'm a really private person. I don't have a lot of stuff on my iBook, but I wish it were more like a PC laptop in that I could easily undo a screw and take my hard drive out.

This is a weird question, I know. But do I have anything to be worried about? I've done stuff like apply the Screen Spanning Doctor and installed some iPod modification tools, and really don't want anybody snooping around to see what I've installed or modified. Maybe I should just wipe the system clean.

On a side note, I hate the Genius Bar. It is the McDonald's approach to customer service. Pick a number, sit on a bench, and maybe we'll get to you before your lunch hour is over, maybe not. And golly gee, I get to do it all over again to drop my iBook off for repairs.

[Bryson]

So, to summarize, you have a load of illegal software and pr0n, and you're wondering whether they'll look at it?

[Christoph]

Hah! No illegal software or porn, but I have lots of passwords stored in here, my bank account information, sensitive stuff that I don't want some goober poking around at when he should be replacing my trackpad.

[Franz Josef]

Originally Posted by Christoph lots of passwords stored in here, my bank account information

if you've stored this in your encrypted home folder (via Filevault) or using Wallet or similar secure password storage app, OK. If not, sensible to remove (securely).

[torifile]

You'll be fine. No need to be paranoid. If someone really wanted your information, they would have gotten it already.

[rasmits]

Originally Posted by Christoph On a side note, I hate the Genius Bar. It is the McDonald's approach to customer service. Pick a number, sit on a bench, and maybe we'll get to you before your lunch hour is over, maybe not. And golly gee, I get to do it all over again to drop my iBook off for repairs.

Uhg, I thought I was the only person who thought the Genius Bar was stupid...

I had never used it before, and I go into the Apple Store with a very simple question about my PowerBook. I walk up, sit down, and the guy's like, "Did you sign in?" "No." "Well here, take this card and follow the directions."

I just left

[geneman]

I'd probably disable the spanning hack, not that I think they check, but it's simple and it does break the warranty to have it installed.

[bassplayinMacFiend]

Originally Posted by Christoph Hah! No illegal software or porn, but I have lots of passwords stored in here, my bank account information, sensitive stuff that I don't want some goober poking around at when he should be replacing my trackpad.

I brought my iMac G5 in for service last Friday. Just to be safe I changed all my passwords to all my financial sites after I dropped it off just in case there was any lingering account information left on the hard drive.

As far as File Vault goes, they ask for your Admin account password when you drop it off. Wouldn't being logged into the Admin account automatically decrypt the Admin account's home directory?

[torifile]

Originally Posted by bassplayinMacFiend As far as File Vault goes, they ask for your Admin account password when you drop it off. Wouldn't being logged into the Admin account automatically decrypt the Admin account's home directory?

Yes.

The only sure way to "secure" things on your computer when it's in the shop is an encrypted disk image with the offensive images.

[geneman]

Originally Posted by bassplayinMacFiend As far as File Vault goes, they ask for your Admin account password when you drop it off. Wouldn't being logged into the Admin account automatically decrypt the Admin account's home directory?

Couldn't you just make an additional admin account? Or can they access all admin accounts if they in one?

[Brad]

An admin account can get super-user access and access any other accounts' data, so long as that data is not encrypted.

Even if it is encrypted, a smart and determined admin/hacker will know exactly how to get the password for it if the password for the encrypted data is the same as that account's password.

Really, once someone physically has access to your machine and its internals (and this goes for *all* computers), all bets are off. Heck, you don't even need to open the computer to get your files; just boot in into Target Disk Mode and hook it up to another Mac. Voila! There are all your files with no OS-level security.

If you must keep sensitive files on the computer, the best security method would be to keep them on an encrypted disk image (as torifile said) with a randomly-generated password that is wholly different from any account password or any other password that you may have saved in your keychain.

Of course, no one at Apple probably even cares about the stuff you have on your computer. They have lots of work to do and don't have time to snoop around and read your files.