Shady Repair Shop Practices
Dishonest service center employees regularly leak clients' intimate photos into closed communities or search text notes for saved card and service passwords. By connecting the phone to a repair computer, a technician can dump an entire messenger database in minutes while the owner waits.
How to Prepare Your Device for Repair
- switch your smartphone to a special "Maintenance Mode" that hides all personal files and apps
- back up necessary data to your home computer and perform a full factory reset
- remove the physical SIM card and MicroSD card from the tray
- never, under any circumstances, give the repair technician your unlock pattern or digital PIN