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Detroit Free Press Editorial Writers Trade Shots Over Nude Photos Hack

September 02, 2014, 6:37 PM by  Alan Stamm

Have you ever argued vigorously with your boss . . . in public . . . for about an hour?

Most people haven't, but newspapers are unlike most workplaces and editorial page writers are paid to have strong opinions -- which may seem an understatement when you see two local players' extended volleys below. Their strong shots and forceful returns make Wimbleton seem like a junior varsity warm-up. (Well, almost.) 

The spirit of respectful colloquy explains why a social media debate Tuesday afternoon between Detroit Free Press editorial page editor Stephen Henderson, 44, and columnist Nancy Kaffer, a 39-year-old member of his editorial board, was in bounds even when it seemed nearly out of control.

The topic was the weekend release of nude selfies swiped from some celebrities' Apple smartphone image-storage accounts, which Kaffer had just commented on in a Freep column headlined "Don't blame Upton, Verlander or Lawrence in nude photo leak." She asserts that "it doesn’t matter why any of the celebrities . . . snapped those pictures" or "why any of these folks would upload naked pictures to the cloud." 

Automatic cloud backups don’t differentiate between adorable puppy pics and naked selfies; the product various cloud-storage providers sell is secure remote storage, and if they’re not delivering, it’s not the user’s fault. . . .

if you’re the kind of person who thinks that storing images in the cloud means you “deserve” to be exposed, or “should expect” such a thing to happen, ask yourself if you feel the same way about people who bank online.

Dan Austin, an assistant opinion editor who works alongside Kaffer and Henderson, shared a Facebook link to her essay. "I agree with Kaffer on this," he comments.

Their department head doesn't and isn't shy about saying so.

He joined a discussion under Austin's post by thanking a woman who wonders why "people really trust the 'Cloud,' famous or not." Kaffer promptly swung back, suggesting: "So Stephen, if I go bust into your apartment with a crowbar . . ."   

And with that, it was on:

Henderson: Life is risk, and we all assess risk according to the things we have and how much we value them. Right? This is absolutely not the fault of the people whose photos were stolen. But did they indulge in careless risk with something extremely valuable? Absolutely. I only need figure out your password to steal something you keep on iCloud. Thus, I'd think you should be reluctant to keep anything of value there. I'm just saying I think most people know that.

Kaffer: I only need a crowbar to get into your apartment, thus you should be reluctant to keep anything of value there.

Henderson: You can't see the risk difference between a physical invasion of my home and swiping your password to swipe digital photos?

Kaffer: They're both crimes.

Henderson: But they [affected celebrities] did indulge [in] careless risk, which has its consequences.

Kaffer: Frankly, the person who did this will probably go to jail longer than someone who broke into your apartment would. Also, I vehemently disagree with "careless risk." These people used a service for what it was created and marketed to do.

Henderson: Yes, they're both crimes. One very difficult, another relatively easy. My only point is that I think a pretty simple risk assessment would prevent most people from putting naked photos on iCloud. That's you and me, I'm talking about -- people whose naked photos are relatively worthless. (Ok, maybe not mine, lol.) But for celebrities, whose naked photos are of unbelievable value? This should have been a no-brainer.

Kaffer: One hopes you mean that someone using a crowbar to force your door open is the "relatively easy" crime? Because I can guarantee I could bust into your apartment in a tiny fraction of the time it'd take you to get my cloud storage password.

Henderson: I'm simply saying that the risk/reward calculation involved in putting naked photos on iCloud is pretty heavily weighted toward risk. Especially if you're a celebrity. [Follow-up:] So you think the risk-reward calculation for living in an apartment that might be broken into is the same as a celebrity putting naked photos of themselves on the internet?

Kaffer: I think more apartments are broken into each day than nude celeb pics are leaked each year.

Henderson: I think the apartment analogy also fails on the reward side of the equation. These photos are of fantastic value -- to the person who stole them, and to the people who buy and distribute them. So they are far more likely to be targeted for theft than anything in my apartment. Right?

Kaffer: And we come back 'round to victim blaming -- JLaw [Jennifer Lawrence] etc. should know their naked pics are a lure to criminals, so the onus is on them to ensure criminals can't get them? Perhaps if ladies wore burkas, we'd just be safer.

Henderson: Yes, I'm victim-blaming even though I'm explicitly saying it's not their fault.

Kaffer: What you're saying is, that it's not their fault, but they should have known better and took a stupid risk. One of these things is not like the other.

Henderson: Yes. Walk. Chew gum. Same time. It's not impossible to say it's not their fault that someone stole their photos, and that they should have known better than to put the photos there in the first place. [Follow-up:] These celebrities KNOW people want their nude photos, which is why I'd think they wouldn't trust something as flimsy as iCloud to store them.

Kaffer: Flimsy? Please source that.

Henderson: Yes, flimsy. It's just pwd [password] protected. That's not very secure. [With link to this recent Infoworld magazine article.]

Kaffer: "It's not impossible to say it's not their fault that someone stole their photos, and that they should have known better than to put the photos there in the first place." But it is a tad hypocritical. It's a bit like saying, she didn't deserve to get raped, but why was she in that bar in the first place? I mean, you can make the point that you *said* she didn't deserve it -- but the subsequent comment undermines the first.

By then, it was approaching 4:30 p.m. and Henderson was ready to leave it there and agree to disagree -- with a closing wink-wink quip: "Ok. Lively conversation, folks. Fun, really. Gotta go, though. I need to hire a new staff. lol."

Ringside spectators included Crain's Detroit Business writer Bill Shea ("I'm scoring this one a TKO for Kafffer over Henderson") and Freep assistant editorial page editor Jewel Gopwani ("So is this what you guys do when I'm in meetings?") 

The compiler of this account is reminded of exchanges between two other strong-minded commentators -- Shana Alexander and James Kilpatrick -- who sparred memorably during the 1970s in a "60 Minutes" segment called Point Counterpoint."


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