How we I protect my hard drive from being copied without my consent?

[ardouronerous]

A person here in the United State allegedly had a laptop in the repair shop and the data from the laptop is being used against him.

Now, this worries me as a Linux user and as a regular citizen who should have the right to privacy, and as such, I don't want snoopy computer shop technicians doing the same to me in the future when I have to bring my laptop for repairs.

Are there ways to protect myself from this? Ways to protect my data from being copied off my laptop without my consent?

[CelticWarrior]

Short answer: Full drive encryption.

[ardouronerous]

Short answer: Full drive encryption.

Is that the same encryption option I get when I install Ubuntu?

[kurt18947]

If it's practical, could you remove the hard drive before taking it to the shop? Some people, when they buy a new PC also buy a spare hard drive. Maybe set up the new PC with the original hard drive then remove the original hard drive and install the extra. Install any O.S.(s) you like. If the PC needs to be shipped out for repair re-install the original hard drive. That wouldn't work if the hard drive was the issue but if the hard drive were the problem I would probably image the original hard drive if it were readable - maybe a couple images - then wipe the hard drive before taking it to the shop. As far as protecting against the machine being stolen, full drive encryption as CelticWarrior says.

[ardouronerous]

If it's practical, could you remove the hard drive before taking it to the shop? Some people, when they buy a new PC also buy a spare hard drive. Maybe set up the new PC with the original hard drive then remove the original hard drive and install the extra. Install any O.S.(s) you like.

The option of removing my SSD before bringing it to the repair shop did cross my mind.

That wouldn't work if the hard drive was the issue but if the hard drive were the problem I would probably image the original hard drive if it were readable - maybe a couple images - then wipe the hard drive before taking it to the shop.

But Ubuntu would alert me if there was a problem with my SSD right? And I've read somewhere that, if the problem is the drive, it usually better to buy a new drive instead.

As far as protecting against the machine being stolen, full drive encryption as CelticWarrior says.

Is that the same option presented to me when I install Ubuntu? When I install Ubuntu, there's an option to encrypt, is that the same thing? I'm upgrading to 20.04 next month.

[mastablasta]

i believe the encrypt option will encrypt home (your data) not full drive (so OS is not encrypted). i could be wrong.

full drive encryption will offer some protection.

know that physical access is access. latest GPU for example are quite fast in brute force attacks. to get the data one would image the drive and then attempt to crack the encryption. long passwords or better yet keys separated from drive are a good idea in these cases. they will make it much hardware for hackers.

at the same time be aware that when you encrypt the data you need to have good backups. any small disk error (that can usually be easily resolved on non encrypted file system) and your data is gone.

IMO on laptop the encryption is still good thing to have. especially, if you use after sales service.

[metacell]

Is that the same option presented to me when I install Ubuntu? When I install Ubuntu, there's an option to encrypt, is that the same thing? I'm upgrading to 20.04 next month.

Yes. But I think you need to do a clean install to be able to use the encryption.

i believe the encrypt option will encrypt home (your data) not full drive (so OS is not encrypted). i could be wrong.

Ubuntu removed home folder encryption (ecryptfs), in favour of full disk encryption (LUKS), due to security concerns. So if he's installing 20.04, he'll be fine.

at the same time be aware that when you encrypt the data you need to have good backups. any small disk error (that can usually be easily resolved on non encrypted file system) and your data is gone.

A very good idea. I have two encrypted removable drives, and use rsync to backup everything important to them.

[scorp123]

Are there ways to protect myself from this? Ways to protect my data from being copied off my laptop without my consent?

I do all computer repairs myself. YouTube can tell me how if I happen to not know something.

[sdsurfer]

As mentioned, drive encryption is the answer. I have a Windows 10 drive I inherited that is encrypted. Can't access it, can't format it, it is basically a useless block without the encryption password.

The "bad" (ish) news is, you can only do this as it's formatted, it requires a complete erase of the drive in any OS.

[3nd]

another thought , take it to a reputable repair shop