The Trouble With Storing Your Private Information On A Server Like iCloud

By now, we have all heard of (and maybe even seen) the recent leaked of photos of various celebrities including Jennifer Lawrence. These photos have made their way all throughout the internet for all to see. From gossip sites to social media, the nude photos have generated various opinions on the matter. By talking about it we ourselves are drawing even more attention to the issue. These hacks are almost always targeted at women.

Leaks are not anything new and we’ve seen countless cases of this every few months. This topic is even the main plot of recent movie Sex Tape starring Cameron Diaz. What the alleged hacker did was wrong and despicable. No one should have their person photos and videos shown on display for all to see without their consent. Hackers like this have existed for many years and similar scenarios like this have occurred quite a bit in the past.

Despite all of this, let us step back for a bit and address a bigger issue. The issue of what our responsibilities are when using technology. The issue of so many technologically challenged persons using technology. You don’t need to be a “nerd” or “geek” to have basic understanding of how technology works. We use these devices day in and out. We expect our phones to be smart, yet we ourselves at times don’t seem to be. Technology makes life easier for all of us, however the onus is on us to ensure that we take precautions and necessary measures to ensure our privacy is maintained.

We store our personal files in iCloud, Dropbox, and all other types of cloud services and pretend no one can get it. We use Snapchat, where your nudes automatically disappear and are gone forever yet we never question if this is actually true before using the service. Do our nudes go through the magical cloud and then to our friends’ devices? We don’t even read terms of service anymore unless there is a news or blog article warning us about it. Wake up, people, and stop being so naive.

The cloud is not a magical place that just holds your information. It’s a server. Everyone needs to and should know this. A company can access your files at anytime if they choose to whether it’s legal or not. It is your duty to educate yourself on the basics before using these services and features. If you don’t know or aren’t sure of how a certain feature on your device works, then its time to take five minutes to learn the ins and outs of the device and even perhaps disable the feature, especially before you decide to store personal information on it.

Now this is not to say that I am blaming the victims in the recent hack. I fully agree that the hacker is in the wrong and should not have invaded her privacy but let’s imagine for a bit that iCloud was not the issue in this recent hack and no hacking had taken place. Your phone is a device you walk around with constantly. What if your device gets lost or stolen, or you forget it somewhere? Sending nude pictures to others within your own privacy is your choice but why keep them or save them on said device? This bundled with not knowing how to work the device you own is always a disaster waiting to happen.

If these leaks are anything, hopefully they are a reminder to everyone that yes, technology is beautiful, however you still need to exercise some form of logic when using it.