In late September, perverts with internet access all over the world rejoiced. The first wave of nude pictures of famous female celebrities like Jennifer Lawrence, Kristen Dunst, Kate Upton, and many, many more, were leaked via a massive hacking into personal iCloud accounts. These images were then shared onto anonymous forums like 4Chan, Reddit, and AnonIB. Anyone with an account could have access to these private shots and violate celebrity’s privacy with one easy click.

This incident does not change my opinion of the celebrities. It changes my opinion of society. My idea of these celebrities is not tarnished like some news publications exclaimed, but my faith in humanity definitely took a hit.

Creepers could view their fantasy and invade celebrities privacy at their leisure. Because that is what celebrities do, right? They must provide the people with entertainment and remain easy objects of adoration. I mean after all, they did choose a life in the spotlight.

That life means little to no privacy and part of that career is indeed to have a relationship with the public. But paparazzi capturing your simple day-to-day moments for public view is not the same as having intimate pictures stolen from personal accounts. No matter how high of a salary or how many films they star in, no public figure, or person for that matter, should be denied their basic human right of privacy.

Tabloids are constantly shouting that “Celebs Are Just Like Us!”. They go to Starbucks, they walk their dogs, they wear Uggs. They are just like us –until they aren’t. Until their stripped down images can be found in the dark crevices of the internet, situations that everyday citizens don’t normally find themselves in. After that, it was easy for some to slander and blame the victims.

The argument of  “if they didn’t want these pictures leaked, why would they take them?” took victim-blaming to a whole nother level. When a person’s private home is broken into and their television is stolen, they are not blamed for owning the appealing products. They are given support and necessary means are taken to help the victim and return the stolen property. Except these images can never be returned. A portion of their intimate private life has been shared with the world without their consent, and this is not a circumstance that cannot be fixed with an insurance check to match the cost.

This new found weapon of stealing pictures, is an apparent threat to all public figures who use storage devices like iCloud. I wish this was an situation where a simple arrest could be made and that would be the end of it but unfortunately, there will always be people who view hacking as an attempt to gain power and in this modern and technical world we live in, precautions should be taken. With a password breach, someone’s private life can be put on display and their lives completely changed with 5-10 characters so it is important to be as secures as possible.

In an interview with Vanity Fair, Jennifer Lawrence discussed the incident and said, “Just because I’m a public figure, just because I’m an actress, does not mean that I asked for this.It does not mean that it comes with the territory. It’s my body, and it should be my choice, and the fact that it is not my choice is absolutely disgusting. I can’t believe that we even live in that kind of world. ”

The Vanity Fair interview was the first time Lawrence spoke out since the hacking and she clearly laid out her opinion on the situation and those who contributed to the crime. “Anybody who looked at those pictures, you’re perpetuating a sexual offense. You should cower with shame.”

This invasion of privacy regarding personal pictures is not just an A-Lister issue. Sharing images of this nature without consent is a disgustingly common occurrence (in school as well) and it needs to stop. Trust is something that I cannot emphasize enough. Make sure you trust someone wholeheartedly if you want to share a piece of your personal life with them because when pictures are shared, there is a transfer of power that can become warped very fast if there is not a mutual understanding. And if someone shares intimate pictures with you, respect them enough to keep them private.

Nudity isn’t the issue in this scenario. It is not earth shattering news that celebrities are naked underneath their clothes. The issue is whether consent was given and then the decisions that go along with these circumstances. “You have a choice. You don’t have to be a person who spreads negativity and lies for a living,” Lawrence said. “You can do something good. You can be good. Let’s just make that choice.” The people have the power. So choose to be a decent human being and respect the rights of individual privacy.