I read the brief Diary on the latest round of Celebrity Nude Photos here:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
It was as I suspected before clicking the link .... More pictures that prove, beyond all reasonable doubt, that underneath the clothes of women in the public eye, are naked bodies. They have boobs, and other parts that I guess hold a fascination for those who forgot to buy x-ray specs when there was a BOGOF offer at Radio Shack.
Whether it be Kim Kardashian or Jennifer Lawrence, or the girl who lives next door to you, or the high schoolers, it matters not. My guess is that were you to manage to confiscate 100 cell phones from unsuspecting women you would probably find embarrassing pictures on about half of them.
I had an interesting time at school this week. A young lady was sent to ISP (In-school suspension) for three days. When I asked why she told me that she had used the school photocopier for something "inappropriate". It turns out that as well as copying the school project, and activity that met with the full approval of the Principal, she and a friend had also copied their cleavages, which did not meet with any kind of approval at all.
Now these are two very nice, polite students who make good grades and have never been in trouble before. They are also in the 8th Grade!
There are two things going on here and it would appear from the comments in the above linked Diary that commenters are having trouble separating the issues. Indeed, the standard of commentary falls so far short of acceptable that I worry about it. If we, here on one of the biggest Liberal websites in the known universe are unable to see the issues clearly, and comment appropriately, what hope is there for the women suffering this kind of abuse. They certainly can't count on us for support.
There are two issues. Notwithstanding the feeling that it was probably ten seconds between the camera-phone being invented and the first pornographic picture being taken, and the fact that photocopiers have been subjected to anatomical exploration since time immemorial (even if 8th Grade is a bit too young), we still need to accept that the private actions of individuals, and the crimes committed against them are two different things.
Is it wise to take photographs of your naked body, or anything else that you wish to remain private, on an internet connected device? Well no, it probably isn't. If you want to do this then you should use a camera, then immediately transfer the images to a computer and encrypt them behind a very strong pass-phrase. This would give you a modest amount of peace of mind. Absent a super-computer, some specialist tools and a great deal of time and expertise, your pictures are probably safe, especially if you also destroyed the SD Card you used. Photocopiers used to be safe, by the way, but that is no longer the case and if anyone chooses to examine the log files of a modern copier they can probably recover your boobs.
That is simple, cogent advice. If ya wanna have fun, go ahead because ... it's fun. However, if you want to keep your fun private, then don't use your cell-phone or tablet, don't EVER send pictures by text or email, and don't use the school copier!
The more serious matter is the hacking and distribution of the private images of other people. This is a crime, and the victim of the crime is not to blame. It does not help to suggest that these women should have been more careful, or that they were "asking for trouble", they were not. I have seen no quotes whatsoever from any of the victims that have suggested that there was trouble around, and they wanted to share it. In every case, these victims thought their material was safe. If on a remote server it was secure behind a password, and in some cases they had "deleted" the images a long time before they were exposed to the glare of the pre-pubescent youths, and others, on 4Chan.
The fact that they were lulled into a false sense of security is not the fault of the victims, who in truth were subjected to a determined effort to hack their accounts, or the servers that held them, and that is a crime carrying a long prison sentence for anyone convicted.
While this may very well identify a need to better educate the entire population about data security, and school photocopiers, the fact remains that it ill-behoves any of us to point a finger at the victim and make them feel worse than they already do. They did not leave their credit card in a public place with the PIN# written on the back. They did not leave a pile of cash on the sidewalk. They did not leave their car keys in the ignition while they shopped in the gas station, and even if they had, so what. We are not insurance loss-adjusters, and stealing any or all of the above are still serious criminal offenses.
So if you want to write about data security, please do so. If you want to offer support to the victims of crime ... great. What you really should not be doing is suggesting that the latter was invited simply because of an ignorance of the former.
Thanks for listening.