Many theories are circulating around the recent leak of nude photographs of over 100 celebrities including Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton.

According to The Verge, there are two main theories about the cause of this large breach of privacy. Some believe the hacker got into one celebrity’s phone and continued the process individually through other celebrities’ phones. Another theory is the hacker was able to break into one celebrity’s iCloud and from there, hacked their contacts’ iClouds.

The last theory has called for a large investigation involving the FBI and Apple over what could appear to be a security glitch in the iCloud system.

I read a lot of articles that broke down the scandal and it seems to me that there are a lot of holes to fill before any of us will know exactly what happened.  Honestly, I think it’s hilarious that it took this grand of a privacy invasion for a large investigation of iCloud to finally take place.

My mom always told me to never post anything online or send a text or picture of anything I wouldn’t want my grandma to see. Today, rarely anything can be kept private. Nothing posted on social media, blogs or even in your own personal “cloud” of pictures and contacts can be kept untouched.

Then, to top the whole ordeal, these pictures are described as art and are displayed in a gallery by a guerilla artist known as XVALA.  

I could not even imagine being in the situation that these women are in.  Given, XVALA represents a good cause.  He wants to bring awareness to the danger the Internet poses on our society.  But I do not believe that disregarding someone’s wishes, no matter how famous or infamous they are, and displaying them in their most vulnerable state, unwillingly, is the best way to go about
proving a point.

In my opinion, it doesn’t matter which theory was correct. It is a shame that media outlets have been thriving off this. It breaks a code of ethics that many people have forgotten about.

Yes, I do believe iCloud should be investigated, and in a large part, Apple is responsible for the privacy invasion of these 100-plus celebrities. Hackers are smart and they continue to be smarter as technology improves. I have no doubt in my mind that they have not been working tirelessly to get through the iCloud security system.

This debacle should come as a lesson to those of us who may have sent a few questionable texts and photos in our day.  And no, by questionable I do not mean nude pictures alone. 

These celebrities should have known better.  They are constantly watched and are held to a higher standard than many of us.  But, who’s to say you won’t become the next Barack Obama, the next Jennifer Lawrence or, God forbid, the next Miley Cyrus?

Watch what you send, people.  Right now, you can’t know who you will be a decade from now.  When you get to that point, when you are at the height of your career, no matter what you are doing or how good you do it, there will always be someone trying to bring you down.  

Don’t let a silly text or a provocative picture keep you from rising to your utmost potential.  Think before you send. If you think about it, that post, text or picture is nine times out of 10 not worth the risk.

This is an opinion by Printz writer and photographer Mary Sergeant.