I know I’m sort of late to the party again as the story of the leaked celebrity pictures is already a few weeks old which is an eternity in the news biz, but as in my previous diaries regarding beheadings the root problem is bigger than the current event.
I watched/listened to and read the discussions about the leaked pictures and realized most people are having wrong discussions about this, focusing on the wrong subjects. Even Jon Stewart with whom I usually agree did not make the most obvious point in his criticism about the discussion of this subject in the media. Find out which point this is after the orange thingy.
First of all let me state clearly and plainly that the act of stealing and publishing these pictures was definitiely a criminal act by the perpetrators, not only in the eyes of the law but also from the point of common sense. If you take something that doesn't belong to you, wasn't voluntarily given to you it is stealing and if you make private pictures accessible to the public without permission from the photographer and the person depicted on the picture it is even worse. No discussion about that fact on my part. But common sense is a good cue to what was in my opinion wrong with most of the discussions I followed regarding this topic.
They went something along these lines:
The “It’s their own fault!”-position
“If they did not want their photos leaked they shouldn’t have made them in the first place!”
The “Poor victims of these evil hackers!” position
“We live in a free country and what we do in our privacy is our own business. It is horrible that these hackers have hacked their accounts and leaked their private pictures.”
These arguments went back and forth in various iterations and emotional intensities. I say, both positions are utterly stupid while the real underlying problem at hand is either not discussed at all or just a side note.
Lets take a step back and look at the bigger picture.
What happened?
Some people used their smartphone to make selfies in the nude, half-nude or sexual positions. Some other people hacked their accounts and leaked those pictures online. Hilarity ensues. Media and public go apeshit.
Lets deconstruct the reactions.
First of all, the argument that they should never have made these pictures is bullshit.
People made nude pictures of themselves since the dawn of time even before photography was a thing, let alone digital photography.
Paintings and statues come to mind.
Everybody has the right to make nude and lewd pictures of themselves for their loved ones or themselves and should do so as often and as many as they want.
It’s only, well, for the lack of a better word, human.
The argument that it is all the fault of the evil hackers and the people depicted on or making the pictures are in no way to blame at all is also bullshit.
But before I make that point let me just ask:
What the fuck, internet people???
The web goes crazy about a few out of focus unaesthetic and unerotic nude or half-nude pictures of people where often not even the face is visible and who do not want the public to see their naked bodies all the while the whole internet is full of people who are shot professionally in High Quality or HD and have no problem whatsoever of being seen naked by the public.
I have seen some of the pics and I don’t get the fuzz about them.
What is so special about badly lit, awkwardly shot nude pics?
Just because it was Jennifer Lawrence, a famous movie star?
Guess what: she also is a woman like every other woman. She has two eyes, two arms, two legs, two breasts, two ass cheeks and a vagina like most women. So what?
If she had sported a third nipple like Christopher Lee as Scaramanga in the 007-movie “Man with the Golden Gun” or a third breast like that lady in "Total Recall" then it might have been slightly interesting and newsworthy.
As it is, they are just a few more nude women pictures on the internet. Big deal.
I honestly don’t get the interest of the public in these pics. If any of you fine people reading this diary can enlighten me regarding this, please do so in the comments.
But on to my main point:
The ladies are partially to blame for this situation.
Not because they made the pics but because they made them on a device with f**ing online access.
How. Stupid. Can. You. Be?
And anyone trying to defend them with “but, but it’s not their fault - they expected their provider to keep their data safe!” gets the same How. Stupid. Can. You. Be? from me.
First rule for privacy on the internet? Anyone? Bueller?
The first rule of privacy on the internet is as follows (*clears throat*): THERE IS NO PRIVACY ON THE INTERNET!
No matter how good your algorithms are, there will always be someone who can hack them.
It is an inconvenient truth which neither providers nor users want to hear but it is the truth nonetheless.
I once had this discussion about privacy on the internet with a friend of mine who is caretaker for mentally or physically disabled people and therefore has sensitive data about them on her notebook.
She was afraid that the data could fall in the wrong hands if she goes online with that computer and asked how she could protect her notebook.
I told her, don’t go online if it contains sensitive data. No matter how good your protections are, there will always be someone who can hack them. If the hacker is even interested in the data is a whole other question.
She grasped that concept and bought another computer which hasn’t the ability to go online in any way and stored the data there.
Why do you think George R.R. Martin writes his books on an old DOS-computer without internet access? He knows that as soon he has online access his files aren’t safe anymore.
THIS should have been the discussion and not brainfarts from bigoted and prude conservatives and naive good people who falsely believe that there is any kind of guarantee of privacy on the internet.
Guess what: Anyone who gives you a guarantee of 100% safety and privacy in the cloud is lying.
I believe that providers are trying their best to keep your data safe, but for every protection there is a hack (or soon will be) so it is always a race between hackers and tech security. There simply is no 100% guarantee of safe data storing online.
I thought since the scope of the NSA online spying activities became public, most people would have wrapped their heads around the fact that there is no privacy online.
You have two choices: Either have privacy or be online.
You can’t have both! (The "Stasi" in old Eastern Germany would have loved facebook & co - would have made their work a hell of a lot easier...)
Every device that has online access can be hacked. If you don’t want your sensitive data fall into the wrong hands, don’t store your sensitive data on devices with online access. That goes for nude pics as well as for plans, scripts, concept drawings, anything!
And that is where the ladies are partially to blame. Not for making the pictures in the first place, but being so unconcerned/naive/stupid/divorced from reality to have them on devices with online access.
Yes, I know, smartphones are convenient because they can do almost everything these days, but this convenience has its price and I don’t mean the purchase price of the smartphone but the fact that if you store sensitive data on them you risk exposing yourself (pun intended).
You know, digital cameras still exist and make awesome photos.
If they had used a simple digital camera without online access and stored the pictures on an usb stick or external harddrive or computer without online access their pictures, dignity and privacy would have been safe.
But no, the smartphone is much more convenient, having it always on hand.
Too much trouble fetching a camera, especially if you just want to quickly send the pic to your boyfriend… (and as soon as she sends it, it is on the internet anyway and can be accessed by hackers and/or the NSA or other spy agencies).
Sorry, in this sense it is their own fault, putting their trust in a technology which simply cannot fulfill this trust. If you are too stupid/lazy/convenient to handle modern technology responsibly, don’t use it.
And if you do use it irresponsibly by storing sensitive data on it, don’t complain when it gets stolen. The law already is on your side but even if the perpetrators are caught and punished that doesn't change the embarassment these ladies had to go through - mainly because of the thieves but also partly because of their own naivité/lazyness/stupidity (take a pick).
End of message.
Steve
The floor is yours.
We are one world and one people. As long as humanity as such is unable to grasp this simple but true concept, there will be no lasting peace, prosperity or progress on this planet.