In the world of entertainment, if a celebrity so much as sniffles into a tissue, everyone knows about it. Magazines, tabloids, television, and the Internet have allowed us to see into almost every aspect of a celebrity’s life, from what color eyes they have to what kind of exercises they do in their own home. Instagram and other social media sites have also given us a chance to interact with our favorite celebrities, asking them questions and getting the thrill out of knowing they responded to us. But where does the interaction draw the line? Because there is such a thin line between being a celebrity and still maintaining some semblance of privacy, there are times when the line is crossed and it has happened most recently.
Earlier this week, Jennifer Lawrence became one many actresses who became the victim of a cyber hacker, who obtained private photos through iCloud and proceeded them to put them out for everyone to see. While some celebrities denied the photos were theirs, such as Ariana Grande and Victoria Justice, others responded in their own way, such as the two actresses who were on Glee, Melissa Benoist and Becca Tobin. None of these women asked for those photos to be put on display for everyone to see.
NBC News reported that both the FBI and Apple Inc., which is the company responsible for the iCloud services, were looking into the allegations regarding the release of the photos, which is highly illegal and a gross violation of privacy. It appears as though whoever was able to hack these photos did their work because one actress, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, tweeted that she had personally deleted the photos.
NBC News also gave suggestions for how to protect your privacy, such as not posting embarrassing photos on the web. But none of the photos were never meant to be posted or distributed. This type of advice reads as if to say ‘Well, don’t do it in the first place if you didn’t want them stolen!’ Lena Dunham likened this type of advice to not wearing a short skirt on her twitter account. The fact is, someone went through the trouble of hacking into dozens of private, personal accounts, saving those photos, uploading them elsewhere, and then distributing them. The photos weren’t distributed by the victims, but from the hacker. It’s important to be careful online, but it’s also important to respect other people’s privacy.
CNN reported the hacking was possibly due to a flaw in an app developed by Apple called ‘Find My Phone.’ When we use our iCloud devices, we do so with the intention that what we save will remain private. Many websites have referred to this incident as a scandal, which is what we usually hear after a celebrity sex tape has leaked or a politician does something they weren’t supposed to do. None of the celebrities involved asked for this to happen, nor were they doing anything wrong. Their privacy, which so many of us always ask for, was violated, plain and simple. They deserve their privacy just as much as every other human being in the world.
The question of privacy is one that we all face in life, especially when it comes to online privacy. Our information is put out there into the web no matter how much we may try to protect ourselves. But often times, the information falls into the wrong hands. Those people are the ones who make the choice to use our information for malicious reasons, such as the case with the celebrity hacking. It’s not the fault of the victims, who are feeling embarrassed, horrified, and stricken that personal photos they never meant for other people to see appeared.
The other troubling aspect of this unfortunate event is people are blaming the actresses’ for something they never wanted to happen. They are human and took photos for personal and private reasons. No one should have had access to them nor used it against them. This is certainly not something that people should be giving them a hard time about, nor should they actively be looking for these photos. Jennifer Lawrence, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and the others shouldn’t be villainized for taking personal photos that were later stolen by someone else.
These aren’t just celebrities who we can look up and watch on Youtube. They are people with feelings that have their own expectations of privacy. Yes, they are in the spotlight. But that doesn’t mean we should be free to see the parts of themselves they don’t want us to see. It also does not mean that it is their fault when someone else decides to invade their privacy. The only person to blame is the hacker, because this was an illegal act that has caused harm to these women.
Photo credit: INFphoto.com