A hacker got ahold of hundreds of celebrities’ personal nude/semi-nude pictures, and made them public. Some of these famous faces include Jennifer Lawrence, Victoria Justice, Kate Upton, Hope Solo and Ariana Grande, just to name a few. Photos of underage celebs like gymnast McKayla Maroney and actress Liz Lee were leaked as well, meaning that anyone leaking these photos are distributing child pornography. Many celebs are now taking legal action, some even stating that these pictures are not only a complete invasion of privacy, but also that they are utterly fake.
According to The Verge, sending nude selfies is an increasingly common behavior. This might not come as a shock to some people, considering the rise in apps like Snapchat. The site also reports that research found this risky behavior is twice as common as it was two years ago. One in five American adults have received a nude photo, and 44 percent of teens reported sending or receiving a sexually explicit sext. To bring it to a college perspective, a study from Purdue University found that among 21 year olds, 80 percent had sent or received a sext and 46 percent had sent a nude selfies. Not to get personal here everyone, but there’s a chance that if someone cared enough to access your private property, you could have been embarrassed as publicly as these famous women have.
On August 31st, a large amount of celebrity photos were uploaded to a message-board website. The question that remains is how did people get these images? Many are blaming it on in infamous “cloud.” Since these allegations, Apple has released a statement following its own investigation into the security breach, which found that the cloud wasn’t to blame. However, many Apple accounts were, in fact, compromised.
This scandal brings up important issues about technology, security and privacy in the digital age that we live in. Is it fair that these females need to worry about their personal property being taken directly from them? One might argue that celebrities put everything out on the table for the world to see. Some take photos scantily clad in magazines and dress in little to nothing on the red carpet, like Rihanna and Kim Kardashian. Others attempt to keep their personal lives as under wraps as possible, like Queen Bey.
What happens when that last bit of privacy has been taken away? Yes, this is the life that these celebs have chosen for themselves. They are, indeed, public figures that are liked and disliked on many levels. There are television shows completely devoted to the happenings in their daily lives, pages in magazines that show how they’re just like us. People care about their every breath, every move and every social media post. These celebrities are people too, with self-esteems and self-respect that can easily be damaged. Unfortunately, hackers think that their private moments are worth stealing. Like them or not, everyone has a right to their personal property. Sext responsibly. And beware of the cloud.
