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Illegal Phone Search Exposed Woman’s Nudes, Officers Face No Consequences

• Written by Kiara Fabbri Former Tech News Writer
• Fact-Checked by Sarah Frazier Former Content Manager

In 2019, Haley Olson’s private nude photos, stored on her phone, began circulating in Grant County, Oregon, allegedly shared among local sheriff’s deputies.

In a Rush? Here are the Quick Facts!

• Sheriff Glenn Palmer requested the phone data without a warrant or legal basis.
• The 9th Circuit ruled this violated Olson’s Fourth Amendment rights but issued no penalties.
• County Attorney Jim Carpenter was granted qualified immunity despite searching Olson’s phone.

The situation stemmed from an illegal search of her phone data, but despite a court ruling in her favor, no penalties were issued against the officials involved, as first reported by ArsTechnica .

Olson, who ran a legal marijuana dispensary in Oregon, was arrested in Idaho for marijuana possession. During her arrest, she signed a voluntary consent form allowing Idaho police to search her phone.

They created a full image of her device before later dropping the charges, as reported by ArsTechnica.

Back in Oregon, Olson discovered that people in town, including sheriff’s office staff, had seen her photos. One deputy even approached her, saying, “I heard there’s some pretty smokin’ pictures of you going around the sheriff’s office.”

Another witness saw a married couple—both sheriff’s office employees—viewing the images together, reported ArsTechnica.

Suspecting her data had been shared with Grant County authorities, Olson filed a public records request. The county attorney at the time, Jim Carpenter, admitted that Sheriff Glenn Palmer had requested the phone data from Idaho officials.

According to ArsTechnica, Palmer was reportedly concerned that Olson’s deputy boyfriend might be implicated in criminal activity.

After failing to obtain the phone data directly, Palmer enlisted Carpenter, who requested it from Idaho prosecutors. Despite promising the data would be used only for internal purposes, Carpenter analyzed the phone’s contents himself using digital forensic tools from Cellebrite .

He later claimed to have deleted the data after finding it contained only personal material, but by then, the damage had been done—Olson’s private images had already spread, reported ArsTechnica.

Palmer claimed Carpenter had twice offered to show him the phone data, allegedly saying, “There were things on the cell phone that once you see them, you can’t unsee them.”

Carpenter denied giving the sheriff access, maintaining he only took a “quick look” before erasing the flash drive, as noted by ArsTechnica.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the phone search was a clear Fourth Amendment violation. The court stated, “Olson’s consent in Idaho did not extend to a search by a different law enforcement agency, in another state.”

ArsTechnica reports that judges criticized the sheriff’s office for accessing personal data without a warrant or legal justification.

Despite this ruling, Sheriff Palmer faced no penalties, as he was never proven to have viewed the images. Meanwhile, Carpenter was granted “qualified immunity,” as the legal boundaries of such data-sharing were unclear in 2019, as noted by ArsTechnica.

Olson’s lawsuit failed to uncover exactly how her photos were disseminated, leaving her without justice. Meanwhile, the Grant County Sheriff’s Office has faced multiple misconduct allegations, including a whistleblower case that resulted in a $1.3 million payout to a former deputy.

Image by Alexander Andrews, from Unsplash

Hackers Claim New Tool Can Unlock Windows And Office For Free

• Written by Kiara Fabbri Former Tech News Writer
• Fact-Checked by Sarah Frazier Former Content Manager

A group of hackers has released an updated version of a tool designed to bypass Microsoft’s Windows activation system, claiming it can unlock nearly every version of Windows and Office.

In a Rush? Here are the Quick Facts!

• Hackers released a tool to bypass Microsoft’s Windows and Office activation system.
• The tool, TSforge, manipulates activation data to insert fake activation records.
• Windows doesn’t recheck activation data once marked as activated.

The group, known as Massgrave, announced the new feature, called TSforge, as part of their Microsoft Activation Scripts (MAS) project. According to their blog post,

TSforge is one of the most powerful activation exploits they have ever developed, allowing users to bypass Microsoft’s built-in security protections.

Microsoft requires users to activate their copies of Windows using a product key or by connecting to a server that verifies the software is genuine. This system, called the Software Protection Platform (SPP), has been in place for almost two decades.

Over the years, hackers have found ways to trick the system, but Microsoft has consistently updated its security to block these methods.

Massgrave claims that TSforge directly manipulates Windows’ activation data. Their research revealed that Windows stores activation information in hidden files and registry keys, which tell the system whether a copy is legitimate.

By understanding how this data is saved and validated, the hackers say they found a way to insert fake activation records that Windows accepts as genuine.

One of the key breakthroughs, according to the blog post, was discovering that once Windows marks a system as activated, it does not check the activation data again. This allowed the hackers to develop a method that inserts fake activation records into the system, bypassing Microsoft’s checks entirely.

If true, this exploit could allow users to activate Windows and Office without paying for a license, potentially leading to widespread piracy. Microsoft has not yet responded to the claims, but in the past, the company has issued security updates to close similar loopholes.

Experts warn that using such tools carries risks. Unauthorized activation methods often involve modifying system files, which can make a computer vulnerable to malware.

Additionally, pirated software may not receive security updates from Microsoft, putting users at risk of cyberattacks.

While Massgrave frames their work as a technical achievement, software piracy remains illegal in most countries. If Microsoft confirms the exploit, they will likely take steps to block it in future updates.