The FBI for 10 years paid Geek Squad managers in Kentucky to pass on information about illegal materials found on devices sent in by customers for repairs, an agreement that might have violated the U.S. Constitution, according to documents released Wednesday by the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
The information came to light following a FOIA lawsuit filed by the EEF, a nonprofit organization that seeks to promote Internet civil liberties.
Geek Squad is owned by Best Buy.
The FBI reportedly paid Geek Squad managers between $500 and $1,000 for information, and awarded them more for finding child pornography. Employees would call the FBI's Louisville field office after finding what they believed was child pornography, and an agent would show up to review the images or video to determine whether it was illegal content.
"After that, they would seize the hard drive or computer and send it to another FBI field office near where the owner of the device lived," according to EEF. "Agents at that local FBI office would then investigate further, and in some cases try to obtain a warrant to search the device."
The issue came to light when oncologist Mark Rettenmaier's federal child pornography case was dropped after a judge dismissed evidence discovered during what he determined was an illegal search. Rettenmaier in 2011 took his computer hard drive to a Best Buy to be repaired, and the drive was sent to a Geek Squad technician in Kentucky. An employee there alerted the FBI, and agents searched Rettenmaier's home and indicted him on two felony counts of possession of child pornography.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.