FORT SMITH (KFSM) -- Documents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation show that the Best Buy Geek Squad in Fort Smith is involved in the recent reports that Geek Squad technicians work with the FBI to uncover data on customer's computers.
A child pornography case involving a California doctor revealed Thursday (March 8) that Best Buy's Geek Squad technicians worked with the FBI to uncover data on the customer's computer for years, CBS Pittsburgh reports. The Electronic Frontier Foundation filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit last year after it learned that the FBI allegedly paid Geek Squad technicians to pass along information about illegal materials on devices sent in by customers for repairs.
The documents confirm that the Geek Squad in Fort Smith handled a computer containing child pornography before it was sent to a Kentucky store and handed over to the FBI.
A source contacted the FBI on May 21, 2008 and said that Best Buy's Geek Squad in Brooks, Kentucky had received a hard drive for repair that contained child pornography, according to the documents.
The documents state that the computer was initially taken to the Best Buy on Rogers Avenue in Fort Smith, but was shipped to the Kentucky store for data recovery. The Fort Smith Best Buy is now located in the Fort Smith Pavilion.
After reviewing the computer, the FBI seized the hard drive as contraband and took the hard drive to the FBI office in Louisville, Kentucky. The hard drive was placed into evidence.
A non-profit organization claims that the nature of the FBI's relationship with the Geek Squad may have violated the U.S. Constitution.
Some in Forth Smith said privacy is not the issue in all of this.
They said if something illegal is found on a person's computer, especially if it is child pornography, it should be reported to the authorities.
One person said once a person takes their equipment in to a repair shop, that person opens it up for others to see.