CANBY, Ore. -- A Canby couple is suing Verizon alleging the company failed to secure their private photos.
“Very frustrated,” said Diana Peters.
Peters and her fiancé, like most people, have cellphones and they take pictures. They thought the pictures would be for their eyes and their eyes only.
“Just something that should stay in the family,” said Peters. “It’s for the photo album at home.”
That is not always the case as Peters and her fiancé learned the hard way. It started with a phone call from one of Peters’ old coworkers. He had just bought a new phone for his grandma at the Verizon store in Molalla.
“He helped his grandma get a phone at the store and get it set up and they’re downloading the cloud and it’s going to take five hours. And he takes it home and sees these photos,” said Peters.
The man was looking at a bunch of photos belonging to Peters and her fiancé. These were not just any photos.
“Photos that I’ve taken in my own house of her possibly leaving the shower and everything,” said Jeff Smith. “Those are my own pictures.”
Smith marched into the Verizon store and demanded answers from the store manager.
“He didn’t have much to say other than we could wipe the phone and go from there,” said Smith. “If you have a big shot lawyer are you going to tackle Verizon?”
Smith and his fiancé did just that. They filed a lawsuit seeking $4 million. They say Verizon failed to protect their photos on a secure server.
“I’ve had phases of embarrassment and serious anxiety,” said Peters.
Smith has felt the same way. He wants an explanation.
“I don’t want this to happen to other people,” he said. “How far does this extend?”