Assignment 1:Information Literacy

Andrew Eustace
1
Why does the public think it has a right to destroy the privacy of Celebrities and
how do they commodify their existence?

In the news recently we have all been shown one of the true perils of celebrity
life, that of becoming a public commodity. Moral and Ethical privacy standards are
abandoned, security becomes simply a fence to climb and modern and emerging
technologies simply another tool in the hackers tool kit. The exposure of many celebrities
private photographs stolen from online accounts is a clear example of this.
A simple Google search lead to Time Magazines article (Worland), which offers
one of the best explanations of how the theft of countless major celebrities private photos
were stolen from their iCloud accounts. Whilst much of Apples mobile technology is
protected from standard hacking techniques, it was recognized by hackers that Apples
Find my iPhone system was lacking in this protection. As such, hackers were able to
use a brute force approach to acquire users passwords and from there, access their
iCloud accounts (Worland). Apple responded quickly to these revelations, upgrading the
security of their systems, but for those already failed by the system this comes as little
consolation. Whilst suggestions are offered on how to ensure your protection online in
the modern age, the question of how Apple failed to notice such a gaping back door in
their otherwise fortress like systems is yet to be addressed.
Running searches for the same words as on Google (Jennifer Lawrence Hacking
Issue) on both Bing and Dogpile (two other search engines) returned similar results. Both
had a reputable news source listed in their first five suggestions, yet they differed from
the Google result. As shown above, Google lead to a time magazine article that focused
Assignment 1:Information Literacy
Andrew Eustace
2
clearly on the technological issues involved in the scandal. Bings search led to The
Telegraphs (a reputable British newspaper) website and discusses the moral and societal
implications of the hacking (Sanghani). The Dogpile search led to the site of The New
York Daily News, clearly a much more tabloid publication than the prior two. The detail
in which they discuss not the hacking, but the product (reclined poses and various states
of undress as well as listing by name each of the 101 celebrity victims) leads to the safe
branding of the site as a tabloid publication (Hutchinson).
Evaluating the Bing result we can see that it was written on September 2
nd
, shortly
after the scandal broke (Sanghani). The relevance of the article is clear; whilst it may not
deal with the technological aspect of the hack itself it is clearly focused on the moral and
ethical responses of the technologically able members of society. Written by Radhika
Sanghani, a leading writer of The Telegraphs Womens issues pages, leave it well
qualified to discuss the topic in an important and persuasive manner. The material used to
support Sanghanis claims is all well documented and features countless links to other
sites and portals that she comments on throughout the article (Sanghani). Whilst the
purpose was undoubtedly to educate and hopefully bring about change through
persuading the audience of the horrific nature of this issue, many would claim a natural
bias based on the author writing about womens rights in an issue that solely involves
women. However it can be hoped that such claims of bias would be dismissed as nothing
more than misogynistic posturing and real change be possible thanks to her clear and
passionate writing style.
By searching the CCBC Library Databases more sources can be identified that
cover similar ground. Due to the newness of the topic under discussion a refined search
Assignment 1:Information Literacy
Andrew Eustace
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was required if results were to be found. As such searches were run using the search
terms iCloud and hacking. Through the ProQuest Database, two relevant articles
appeared that provide an interesting background to the articles listed above: Cyber
Security . . . How Important is it? in The Judges Journal (Dixon) and Improving Data
Security in Small Businesses in Journal of Technological Research (Schneider). The
second of these, in Journal of Technological Research doubly so as it was the lack of
two-step authentication on Apples Find my iPhone system that was claimed by Time
Magazine to be the backdoor into the celebrity iCloud accounts.
The differences between the Internet based articles and the Journal Articles is
vast. The Internet articles are all current (written within the past month) and address the
topic head on using up to date and relevant information. The Journal articles however
must be submitted to peer reviewed publication and subject to countless amendments and
discussion even before the article is published. At their most rapid, academic journals are
published monthly, at the slower end quarterly or even yearly. As such, directly relevant
peer-reviewed material for the iCloud hacking scandal (less than a month old) is highly
unlikely to exist. Due to their nature, peer reviewed sources are most often going to be
the authoritative and in depth accounts of any situation. However, for very recent or
current issues, major international broadsheet newspapers come a close second for
authoritative reporting. There is also no question that the Internet articles are infinitely
easier to find and access, making all those but the most dedicated researcher likely to try
them first, before moving on to peer reviewed journals.
Regardless of your view on the scandal itself, the question remains as to why the
general publics reaction to outright digital theft was to criticize the victim and not the
Assignment 1:Information Literacy
Andrew Eustace
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perpetrator. Have we become so morally and ethically bankrupt as a society that we once
again view human beings as a tradable commodity, stripped of all right to privacy and
normality simply due to their perceived social status? Celebrities have been made by
society, yet that should not mean that their every move and possession are owned by
society.


















Assignment 1:Information Literacy
Andrew Eustace
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Works Cited MLA Format
Dixon, Herbert B. "Cybersecurity . . . How Important Is It?" The Judges Journal Fall
(2012): 36-39.

Hutchinson, Bill. Jennifer Lawrence, other celebrities have nude photos leaked on
Internet after massive hacking scandal. 1 September 2014. 21 September 2014
<http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/jennifer-lawrence-
celebrities-nude-photos-leaked-internet-article-1.1923369>.

Sanghani, Radhika. Jennifer Lawrence photo leak: Let's stop calling this hacking 'The
Fappening'. 2 September 2014. 21 September 2014
<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/11069829/Jennifer-Lawrence-
photo-leak-Lets-stop-calling-this-hacking-The-Fappening.html>.

Schneider, Kent N. "Improving data security in small businesses." Journal of
Technology Research 4 (2013): 1-8.

Worland, Justin. How That Massive Celebrity Hack Might Have Happened. 1
September 2014. Time. 21 September 2014 <http://time.com/3247717/jennifer-
lawrence-hacked-icloud-leaked/>.