Less than three days ago, pictures of female celebrities began circulating around the internet. Most of these images show women like Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton and Jenny McCarthy completely naked in the privacy of their own homes or hotels. As soon as word spread of this leak, social network users decided to take a few poorly executed comedic jabs at the aforementioned women. The childlike response to this incident confirms two things we all know: America is full of hypocrites and the cloud is not a safe place.
Cloud computing, better known as the cloud, is the method of storing and accessing data over the internet instead of on a computer’s hard drive. Google Drive, Amazon Cloud Drive and Apple’s iCloud are all examples of cloud computing. Google’s Chromebook took the cloud service to another level by forcing everything to be done via the cloud.
The online independent message board, 4chan, was the original host website of what is disturbingly being called “The Great Nudes Leak of 2014.” Soon after, the images spread to Reddit and Twitter where things really picked up some steam. The jokes about masturbation and how these women looked physically quickly followed.
Fortunately, there were a few social media users who focused on the gravity of the situation. Someone possesses over 100 pictures of these celebrities which they took from the celeb’s personal email or cloud accounts. As much as Americans complain about the NSA and privacy, this isn’t something to laugh at. No one would want this to happen to themselves or their friends. These pictures weren’t intended to be seen by all of the world, but now that they have, questions of internet safety have risen.
Apple is currently investigating if the pictures or information to access the pictures came from their iCloud program.
According to a story by The Associated Press, the FBI is also investigating a large leak of private images.
Other companies that use the cloud should probably be doing the same thing. We should all be cautious of what we place in the cloud or send in our emails right now. While the chances of our personal information being released are slimmer than that of a celeb’s, that doesn’t mean that we are any safer.
There are many objections to the cloud — it lacks a governing body for cloud usage, for example. The cloud is a free-for-all data jungle where things are uploaded and kept until they’re accessed again or lost. As it is with any social network or email domain, once a person figures out another’s username and password, they immediately have access to those personal items. The current theory is that someone figured out the cloud information of these celebrities and took the pictures from there.
Technology is a beautiful thing. It’s always progressing and innovative. The learning curve to understand all of the new programs and devices is a steep hill, however.
To prevent putting ourselves in compromising positions, we should take the proper measures to protect our information. Be careful where you login from and what you’re logging into. Be aware of what services are on your phone, like an automatic backup feature that brings pictures straight to the cloud once captured.
The images of Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton and Mary Elizabeth Winstead are the only ones confirmed as real. These are normal human beings who already live their lives under a microscope and now they have to deal with this. While scrutinizing celebrities is one of America’s favorite pastimes, this is in no way the fault of these women.
“Don’t take naked pics if you don’t want them online.” This is a Twitter comment made regarding the leaked pictures.
Comments like this draw comparison to the “she shouldn’t wear clothes like that and she won’t be slut-shamed” idea. How can you find fault in anyone’s actions but the hacker’s?
No one wants to have their private lives exposed. Some of my friends have had their nude pictures released to our high school. Had this been someone you know, your response to the pictures may have been different. Please be careful with what you put into the cloud or share with other people. The word “privacy” is quickly losing its meaning.
Joshua Jackson is a 20-year-old Theatre junior from New Orleans. You reach Joshua on Twitter @Joshua_Jackson_.