In what appears to be a hacking incident of overwhelming proportions, intimate images of scores of high-profile figures have allegedly been stolen from Cloud-based backup services and published online. A number of these pictures are of the Academy Award winning actress Jennifer Lawrence. Other reported victims include model Kate Upton and singer Victoria Justice.
While the incident shows how vulnerable the concept of privacy is in the digital age, it also exposes a serious flaw in internet usage. The online world remains a vast, unregulated place where morals and a sense of decency are swept aside every time any one of us searches for content that we shouldn’t be able to find.
In 2012, a French magazine chose to breach privacy laws and publish topless pictures of the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton. Taking the pictures on private property and without the subject’s knowledge was bad enough, but that crime was amplified by every person who bought a copy of the magazine and by every internet user who viewed the images online.
Those who chose to link to the images hacked from Cloud services this week have, in effect, been handling stolen goods. Those who subsequently viewed the images are also guilty of criminal activity. The only way to prevent such incidents is to stop clicking on these pictures when they are circulated. Until we do, the hackers will always win.