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Please let me: Log out from Google, ask the thief to log in again, and tell me the thief's Gmail address #139

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unforgettableid opened this issue Dec 28, 2018 · 5 comments

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@unforgettableid
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If my phone is stolen:

A) Please allow me to remotely log the phone out of my Google account.

B) Then, ask the thief to log into his own Google account.

C) Finally, please tell me the thief's Gmail address.

Does the above request make sense?

P.S. Thank you for continuing to maintain Prey!

@unforgettableid unforgettableid changed the title Please let me: Log out from Google, ask the thief to log in again, and tell me the thief's email address Please let me: Log out from Google, ask the thief to log in again, and tell me the thief's Gmail address Dec 28, 2018
@RokeJulianLockhart
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RokeJulianLockhart commented Mar 28, 2022

This is potentially illegal without specific permission from governmental law-enforcement, not least because within the European Union, Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council would probably specifically prevent acquisition and storage and tramission of that information, but additionally because that is conformative to most legal definition of hacking.

@unforgettableid
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I don't want to know the thief's password: just his email address.

I'm also not in the EU.

In the EU, you can show a consent request before collecting the thief's Gmail address. Or you can just disable this feature altogether in the EU.

Are the thief's photo and location also protected by the GDPR?

In general, are thieves protected at all by the GDPR?

I don't think that a thief would be likely to bring a lawsuit against a phone's owner. And, even if he did, I think that the judge might side against the thief. Therefore, even if a simple reading of a law appears to protect thieves, I think they may not actually be covered by the law. Please remember: judge-made law is valid law.

I am not a lawyer.

@RokeJulianLockhart
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RokeJulianLockhart commented Mar 29, 2022

I solely mentioned Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council as demonstration of what I warned of. I am confident that what @unforgettableid proposes is additionally illegal within the United States Of America, as I believe that "http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_Fraud_and_Abuse_Act" demonstrates, and within the United Kingdom Of Great Britain And Northern Ireland.

@unforgettableid
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Again: If an evil person did these things for personal gain, the judge might declare them guilty. If a good person did these things in order to catch a thief, the judge might declare them innocent.

Police generally have discretion not to pursue a case. So do prosecutors. If a case does go to trial, a judge or a jury often can choose not to convict the defendant — or to give them a mere slap on the wrist, such as a $1 fine.

So, even though the law might claim that something is illegal, that doesn't guarantee that you'll get in trouble, even if you do the thing.

As well, please read up on the legal principle of "de minimis". This principle also might apply here.

Again, I'm not a lawyer. I wonder if you are.

@RokeJulianLockhart
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Any legal knowledge of mine is coincidental and informal.

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