Security → Re: Computer technician finding illegal activity

Yes you do. However, this is really a trust/ethics issue. While you may expect it, your expectations may not be honored. I'd expect that there are a lot of technicians out there that do a scan for pics and MP3s during the course of their work and make a copy for themselves.

Remember you're handing your data off to people who are just over minimum wage, not highly trained experts.

I fully agree. Historically people would give confidential information about themselves to their priest or medical professional with the expectation that this information would be kept confidential.
I see IT professionals in a similar way. Confidential information is often accessible to us in the normal course of our work and it is a matter of professional ethics to keep it confidential (and in some countries this is law).

Being confronted with evidence of criminal activity however also raises an ethical question (and there may not be an easy answer).

Snooping and just generally digging around without purpose is poor professionalism and WILL get you fired from my business.

There are many ways to find information without snooping. Due to the nature of the material and association with spyware/malware, running a scan of the system could result in folder/files being exposed.

If in the normal course of repair/troubleshooting you come across the files, you have the somewhat legal duty to report what you found to authorities... Not sure of the law, but many places have laws that ignoring the crime is essentially a crime.

However, snooping and just generally being an idiot happens too often with immature techs, regardless of their age.

So hard to find good help.