ADT Technician Spied on Customers for 7 Years
Installing home security systems is meant to make you feel safe and secure, but ADT customers have experienced the opposite, with the revelation a company employee has been spying on them for years.
As SunSentinel reports, news of the spying first appeared in April when ADT reported to police that a former employee had gained unauthorized access to the accounts of 220 customers, all of them located in the Dallas area. In a statement, the company said, “We took immediate action and put measures in place to prevent this from happening again … We deeply regret what happened to the 220 customers affected by this incident and have contacted them to help resolve their concerns. We are supporting law enforcement’s investigation of the former employee and are committed to helping bring justice to those impacted by his improper actions.”
Now, ADT is facing two lawsuits, both seeking class-action status. It’s claimed that former ADT technician Telesforo Aviles installed indoor security cameras at homes across Dallas and added his personal email address to the accounts. By doing so, he could easily access the cameras and spy on customers. He did this repeatedly over a period of seven years to hundreds of customers. One of the lawsuits also claims, “ADT began a campaign to call all affected account holders and secure a release and confidentiality agreement in exchange for a monetary payment representing a fraction of the value of their claims.”
According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, one of the lawsuits represents all ADT customers, where as the other represents specifically those customers who were spied on. In both cases, more than $5 million in compensation is being sought. At the heart of the lawsuits, ADT is accused of failing to fix vulnerabilities in its ADT Pulse software, which the company relies on to access the security system, including cameras and smart locks, installed in each customer’s home.
Regardless of whether you are an ADT customer or not, using smart home security cameras does require some setup, including securing your accounts. Change the default passwords, enable two-factor authentication, and use encryption when connecting it to your home network to help ensure nobody can spy on you.
