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Jennifer’s Grimm Fairytale
Firstly, I want to outright state that I in no way condone the hacking of any device to retrieve personal data without permission and that I have some sympathy for Jennifer Lawrence in the recent ‘Nudegate’ issue with her images in iCloud. I also want to state that NO ONE should have their rights to online & realtime privacy breached by another without consent.
But…I don’t live in that fairy tale and I am a realist (The World is 90% great people and 10% utter scumbags I live for the 90% but am always mindful of the 10%). Unfortunately for Ms Lawrence that tale has turned into a Grimm Brothers Fairytale with just as much darkness and as many life lessons to be learnt.
This is not a 'Privacy' issue alone. Nor is it even close to a 'Female's Rights' Issue, if you don't believe me ask Tom Sizemore. No, its far more a 'Risk Management' issue and one which harks back to the fundamental statement we always make on our broadcasts that "Security on your computing device and the cloud/net begins with YOU"
Imagine that you, are Ms Lawrence and you, sit and think logically about the risks to you, your privacy and your career.
Ms Lawrence has a bodyguard I would presume which cancels/reduces the risk to her person. Her management and presumably she (as she doesn’t strike as someone who is short of intelligence) has realised and reacted to that threat no doubt 'proportionally'
She VALUES her life/health in that regard. Her person has significant value in that and thus significant risk and therefore she has reacted to it with measure that she feels counteract that threat.
Now you are still Ms Lawrence and you consider the privacy you possess. What VALUE do you place on that privacy? What VALUE do you hold for the sight of your body with no clothes on or in the case of other stars, your private moments with a partner performing intimate acts and said privacy, being viewed publicly? Enough to not use a device renowned for its ability to be stolen and then mined for personal data? Enough to not use a service in the cloud by which anyone with sufficient intelligence and devious intent can penetrate it and remove data (and in this case there was no 'forced entry' we are led to believe)
I refer you to my opening statement again before saying…OH COME ON! Where is the forethought, the planning, the shear non negligent regard for the risks that this holds and the reality of a world that will ultimately mean, that naked pictures of celebrities will always attract the underbelly of the tech community and will always be stolen unless secured somewhere?
‘Everyone deserves a right to privacy’ is a stupid and naive statement if not supported by a list of sensible precautionary measures with which to ensure that privacy.
Its about as stupid as saying "I have the right to cross the road safely at pedestrian crossings therefore I won’t look out for the cars when I cross there". To live a little longer you have to recognise the risks from motor vehicles and take risk-based appropriate actions to protect yourself from them, not complain that the Highways Agency should have 'put in more barriers' or that 'cars are evil'.
These images are obviously of significant value to Ms Lawrence AND to the thief who stole them. The thief went to great lengths to obtain them, Ms Lawrence has done very little to protect her own privacy or intimacy.
You can all write in and complain about the security levels of iCloud or how Apple let Ms Lawrence down, and some of that may stick. But in truth, Ms Lawrence let herself down by allowing a nude image to be taken in an intimate moment on an insecure device that posted it to a service where someone with a password can easily enter and take that image. Complaining that The World isn't fair won't improve anything, won't stop the next celebrity image being stolen and maybe won't even stop Ms Lawrence doing it again.
I refer you all to my grandmother. “If you’ve got gold in the house, don't leave it on the doorstep”
Ewen
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Ewen Rankin