No Privacy in the Electronics Repair Industry By Dan Goodin @dangoodin001 - November 21, 2022 arXiv: No Privacy in the Electronics Repair Industry (PDF): https://arxiv.org/pdf/2211.05824.pdf
Is there a practical answer to this situation? Would adding an eternal drive help, if I kept all personal & sensitive data thereon? So only the system drive would be in the computer when it goes to the doctor?
I've never ever taken any of my computers for repair. I build (desktops) and repair them all myself. I'd rather smash it then take it to some stranger for repairs.
Luckily I have never had to take my PC's to the repair shop, but it's a no brainer that you can't trust these people, so no surprise here. This is something that should be offered by the OS like Windows and Android for example. I suppose when your data is encrypted it will also help.
What I did in Windows was make a new account (in the section for adding, editing, etc., users) with non-admin access and let any techs use that. But it can only be used to test any hardware components that needed to be replaced or added. I still have to install drivers, etc., myself. It also can't be used for software repair.
No, it won't help. Technician can simply boot from livecd. He can also remove SSD/HDD from the inside then plug in to his/her computer as an external drive. Essentially only full disk encryption* or swapping drive will help. Go to a friend with spare drive. Ask for help: let him/her install fresh OS copy onto that drive and replace yours laptop inner drive with that drive. Of course if client does not give a password.
Frankly I never met anyone who needed a repair shop. Almost everyone has tech geeks among relatives, friends, colleagues or they know other ones who are able to repair comps. As for business machines, that's a different story.
You're right! That means I'll need a spare drive with the OS in it. If the machine is difficult to open or parts removed, like some laptops and all-in-one PCs, then I'll have to bring it to a local shop and wait for the repair man to remove the drive and put in the spare one. I tried opening a laptop once and almost damaged the screen.