HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2015-08-26, Page 5Wednesday, August 26, 2015 • Huron Expositor 5
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The right to privacy
is for everyone,
even cheaters
I'm sure by now we've
all heard about the
recent controversy
over the "adultery -made -
easy" website ashley-
madison.com. The site
acts as a resource for
married people to find
other married people in
order to have affairs. On
July 15, a group calling
themselves the Impact
Team threatened to hack
into their servers and
steal the personal infor-
mation of their users and
release it to the public
unless the website volun-
tarily shut down.
Ashley Madison didn't
give in to the threat and
on August 18 the group
did exactly what they
threatened to do. Sixty
gigabytes of data is now
freely available includ-
ing names, phone num-
bers, pictures, addresses
and size measurements
of all users of the
website.
This leak has
prompted a witch-hunt
on the internet. People
have been tirelessly
combing the informa-
tion looking for names
of celebrities, politi-
cians, clergymen and
more in order to shame
them, and in some
cases, extort money
from them. The general
reaction from the public
seems to be that these
cheaters are getting
their comeuppance.
MSNBC reported on the
story barely holding
back smiles and laugh-
ter, nearly every com-
ment on Twitter and
Facebook about it is rev-
eling in the fact that the
Column
Matt Recker
site's users are "so
busted" and CNN and
the Huffington post
have both posted arti-
cles blaming Ashley
Madison and it's users
for ruining marriages.
But where is the
blame for the hackers?
I'll admit seeing people
getting exploited for
cheating on their
spouses is quite satisfy-
ing. I have almost no
sympathy for people
who are too cowardly to
try to fix their marriages
or end them respect-
fully and choose to lie
to and deceive their
partners instead, but
why does nobody seem
to care about the clear
invasion of privacy
here? I'll admit it's
uncomfortable to
appear to stand up for
the AM users, but I have
to say that our willing-
ness to accept breaches
of privacy because we
simply don't like the
victims disturbs me. AM
users aren't breaking
the law, they're not
doing anything different
than using Facebook to
find "hook-ups" in their
area.
Our right to privacy
isn't reserved for peo-
ple whose choices we
agree with, it's for eve-
rybody. Sure we get a
nice taste of schaden-
freude when we see
philanderers get busted
but what about the
hacker group out
there who is willing
and able to steal infor-
mation from secure
websites? Let's see
how many people cheer
if they decide to take
personal information
from your private
Facebook account and
show it to the world. We
don't know what this
group believes in or
whom they may target
next. I searched for arti-
cles online about the
effort being done to
find the Impact Team
and what steps are
being taken to prose-
cute them and came up
with nothing. I know it's
hard to find hackers,
but it disturbs me to not
hear anything about
any effort at all.
On August 31, 2014
many female celebrities
including Jennifer Law-
rence had their phones
hacked and their nude
photos distributed
online. People were
shocked at the viola-
tion. In October 2012,
Hulk Hogan was filmed
having intercourse
without his consent and
it was released to the
public. People laughed
and mocked the aging
wrestler. Invasion of pri-
vacy doesn't have
shades of grey, it's ille-
gal and it's wrong, no
matter who it happens
to, whether we like
them or not.
letter to the editor
Trudeau's policies
Dear Editor,
The logic in this letter is
flawed when it implies that
Trudeau's policies are not
inclusive in the areas of the
pro-life movement, the
legalisation of marijuana
use and on homosexuality.
Firstly, by stating that all
Liberal candidates in the
forthcoming election must
be pro -choice on the abor-
tion issue, Trudeau is being
open and welcoming to
each and every Canadian
to make their personal
choices on this issue. His
position is fully inclusive of
those who choose not to
have abortions, as is the
pro -choice movement.
Secondly, on the issue on
Trudeau's intentions to
make the use of marijuana
legal, the logic in the letter
is equally flawed. In no
way, does Trudeau's pro-
posed legislation on this
issue exclude those Cana-
dians who choose not to
use marijuana. Further-
more, there is much com-
pelling evidence that the
excessive alcohol usage is a
more potent and danger-
ous recreational chemical
than is marijuana. The
number of Canadian
deaths from alcohol related
physical and mental dis-
eases, from traffic crashes
and the number of cases of
spousal abuse, marital
breakdowns and the end-
ing of promising careers are
far, far more commonplace
in those who abuse alcohol
than in those who use mar-
ijuana for recreational
purposes.
Finally, on the uncompro-
mising, homophobic stance
taken by the author, suppos-
edly based on the scriptures
of Judaism, Christianity and
Islam, the author is making
the common mistake of
quoting only that which
suits his argument. Enumer-
able theological scholars
have repeatedly advised that
one can always find the
point and the counter -point
on any divisive issue that
one cares to study in the
texts of the world religions.
May God bless all of us.
Yours Sincerely
Jim Hollingworth.
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