The Samsung Right-To-Repair Thing Just Got Worse

iFixit dumped Samsung because Samsung’s playing dirty with your right to repair your own stuff. And it’s worse than you think. Samsung is making local repair shops hand over all your personal info and reports you if you use non-Samsung parts. Yikes!

404 Media got a leaked contract that says repair shops must send Samsung your name, address, phone number, your phone’s serial number, IMEI, what’s wrong with your phone, and repair details. They even have to strip out any third-party parts from your phone, even though it’s legal to use them.

Samsung hasn’t commented yet, and iFixit’s CEO Kyle Wiens says they had to share some customer info with Samsung too. If you bought genuine Samsung parts from iFixit, Samsung has got your email and a list of what you bought.

New right-to-repair laws in Minnesota and California starting July 1st might change things. Minnesota’s law especially won’t let Samsung enforce such contracts, requiring fair and reasonable terms for parts.

Nathan Proctor, a right-to-repair advocate, doubts repair shops are actually removing aftermarket parts but believes they’re sharing customer info because Samsung can track who’s buying and installing their parts.

The big question is if customers know that Samsung is getting their info. 404 Media didn’t say if shops are telling customers this.