A best-selling author has accused Google’s mail-in Pixel repair service of hacking her accounts and trying to find sensitive photos.
Jane McGonigal is a New York Times bestselling author who sent her Pixel 5a to Google for repair. Although she couldn’t factory reset the phone, due to it not turning on, McGonigal took every other step she could to protect her data, including using Google’s Lock my Phone and Erase my Phone services.
The problem started when Google said her phone was not received at the repair facility — despite FedEx tracking showing it was delivered — and proceeded to charge her for a replacement. Days later, someone used the phone to log into her accounts, even creating a Gmail filter to flag security alert emails as spam in an effort to prevent McGonigal from realizing anything was wrong.
The perpetrator looked through McGonigal’s photos, looking for anything that included skin, cleavage or anything the person thought could be a nude or scandalous photo.
This is not the first time Google has faced these accusations. The company had better take significant measures to improve security if it hopes to prevent a class action lawsuit — if it’s not too late already.