Seven rent-to-own companies were illegally using Designerware’s remote logging solutions as spyware on their laptops. As it was found out the unsuspecting users were not only logged but also photographed.
Thus the 420000 rental computers even took pictures of children and adults naked or of couples having sex. The gathered information was sent to Designerware’s HQ and from there it was then sent to the rent-to-own company that owned a particular PC. As part of the settlement, FTC asked Designerware to stop spying the PC’s in question. Designerware can still provide its services as long as the rent-to-own companies that rent PCs to users warn them about the fact they are monitored.
Designerware’s website states that the business was closed. Rent-to-own companies: Aspen Way Enterprises Inc., C.A.L.M. Ventures Inc., Watershed Development Corp, B. Stamper Enterprises Inc., Red Zone Inc., Showplace Inc., J.A.G. Rents LLC also collected sensitive user data. FTC report shows the users were forced to fill in their full name and address before first using a laptop. Next the installed spyware was secretly logging and looking for sensitive details such as: bank and credit card statements, social security numbers and medical records.
