POSTED BY Madeline Lally
Cloud computing allows for large groups of remote users to share data-processing tasks, centralize data storage, and access online services and resources. There are many advantages of cloud computing, including economies of scale, increased flexibility, and improved accessibility. However, the cloud has proved to be susceptible to hackers who seek to access sensitive information such as banking numbers. However, more recently cloud hackers have targeted private photos, as seen in “Celebgate,” the celebrity nude photo leak that was heavily publicized in the media. Such a scandal begs the questions: just what privacy rights an individual is entitled to through use of the cloud? And how can the photos be controlled and censored if they are published online?
Courts have consistently ruled that a person has an expectation of privacy in items he places in a closed container, especially when the contents of that container fall into the category of highly personal items, such as photographs. The cloud is akin to a “virtual container” and should entitle users the same privacy rights accorded to a tangible container. However, the endless reach of the Internet has made it almost impossible for those privacy rights to be secured and restored once they have been violated.
In 2013, Arizona passed an “anti revenge porn bill” in an attempt to combat the recent trend where individuals distribute and publish online nude images of their former partners. The Arizona law makes it a felony to publish or display any images of a person in a state of nudity if the person who shares the photo knows or should have known that the person depicted did not consent to the disclosure. As such, anyone who republishes, shares, or re-posts links or pictures of celebrity photos could be subject to a felony charge. Such a law certainly bolsters the idea that all individuals, including celebrities, are entitled to a reasonable expectation of privacy and simply because something is posted on the Internet does not mean they lose this right. They should not be expected to sit idle while individuals retweet, repost, and reblog their private information and images.
