Apple Store Camera Hacking Gets Secret Service Involved

A program was installed on multiple computers at the Soho and West 14th Street, New York Apple Store locations by camera artist Kyle McDonald. The program causes the camera to take a picture every 60 seconds. McDonald’s actions resulted in the confiscation of his personal computers by the Secret Service. McDonald captured three days worth of images, having to return to both stores each morning to reload the program as Apple clears their machines nightly. Multiple photos taken were uploaded to a Tumblr blog and positioned on Apple computers so that people would see pictures of themselves and others, although this did not raise questions among consumers. McDonald’s mission through capturing these images was to show users what they looked like staring at a computer and hoped that people would acknowledge the lack of interaction with people when interacting with the machine. McDonald became aware that an Apple store technician was able to trace the network traffic from the Apple system to his server. Four Secret Service men entered his living quarters with a search warrant for computer fraud. McDonald however does not believe he violated any laws. He had received permission from Apple’s security guards to capture photos in the store as well as the permission of consumers to have them be taken.