Apple reportedly paid a female student a "multi-million dollar" settlement after two iPhone repair technicians posted explicit photos and sex videos on her Facebook page

According to The Telegraph, the incident occurred in 2016, when the woman (then a 21-year-old student at the University of Oregon) sent her iPhone to Apple for repair; the iPhone was then sent to a repair shop operated by Apple contractor Pegatron in Sacramento, Calif where technicians accessed her personal files

According to legal findings seen by The Telegraph, two unnamed technicians found sensitive content and posted "10 photos and sex videos in various states of undress" to her Facebook account as if she had uploaded them herself It was only after a female friend informed her that it had been removed

The victim's lawyer reportedly threatened to sue Apple for invasion of privacy and "severe emotional distress" and demanded $5 million in damages during negotiations The final settlement amount could not be disclosed, and the woman has been barred from discussing the case

Tom's Guide was unable to independently verify this report or the terms of the settlement

The settlement came to light because Pegatron was engaged in a separate court battle with its insurance company, which reportedly refused to reimburse Apple for the payments it made Apple was apparently referred to as a "customer" during this separate lawsuit in an attempt to keep the case confidential Later, Apple was named as a customer in another unrelated lawsuit

An Apple spokesperson told The Telegraph, "We take the privacy and security of our customers' data extremely seriously and have many protocols in place to ensure that data is protected throughout the repair process"

In 2016, one of the vendors When we learned of this egregious policy violation at one of our vendors in 2016, we took immediate action and have continued to strengthen the vendor's protocols ever since"

[14

Not surprisingly, the two technicians were fired

According to one iOS hacker who identifies himself as @s1guza on Twitter, customers should take certain steps before bringing their phones to Apple These steps include attempting to repair it independently, purchasing another iPhone, or, if absolutely necessary, backing up and completely erasing the device before handing it over to Apple

Sigza also believes that if the user cannot erase the device for any reason, they should not take the device to Apple or any other repair technician that requires a passcode Siguza argues that Apple has the tools necessary to repair the device, and therefore does not need the user's Apple ID to repair it s Apple ID is not necessary for repairs, as Apple has the necessary tools to perform repairs

Tom's Guide does not necessarily support Siguza's recommendation, but likewise does not understand why a technician would need an Apple ID and password to repair an iPhone

Apple has touted privacy as one of its main selling points It is also why the company has lobbied against right-to-repair laws, believing that only it can do a proper job of ensuring user security