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from the look-for-people-in-trench-coats dept.
The BBC reports on a woman who was sent pictures of a penis via Apple AirDrop.
The victim received two pictures of an unknown man's penis on her phone via Apple's Airdrop sharing function.
Lorraine Crighton-Smith, 34, said she felt "violated" and reported it to the British Transport Police (BTP).
Supt Gill Murray said this particular crime was new to her force and urged people to report any other incidents.
Ms Crighton-Smith, who was travelling on a train in south London, told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme: "I had Airdrop switched on because I had been using it previously to send photos to another iPhone user - and a picture appeared on the screen of a man's penis, which I was quite shocked by.
The article later describes how to make sure that AirDrop is set to only allow pictured from known contacts.
Is this a major privacy issue or is it simply a case of a misconfigured device?
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday August 18 2015, @04:03PM
What's her name is a vestal virgin? Come on, WTF? She never took an anatomy or biology class, and had no idea what a penis looked like? Getting an unwanted dick pic on your phone is more equivalent to seeing dogs screwing in your front lawn. Or, stepping in dog poo. Icky, maybe, but traumatizing?
Oh, hell - go for it, you silly biddy - go for the drama. You're damaged for life because you've seen a dick. Slob on the judge's knob - I mean, sob on his shoulder, and you'll get a nice settlement.
Wonder how traumatized she would be if someone else sends her some boob pics?
(Score: 2) by VLM on Tuesday August 18 2015, @04:29PM
It fits in well with neopuritan drama in main stream media that nobody believes but everyone knows is true.
Combine that with the insane commercialization of advertising and spam and it makes no sense. I get thousands of spam emails per week vs zero anonymous dick pix.
Frankly the story smells, like someone is making the whole thing up as some kind of weird astroturf.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Tuesday August 18 2015, @06:21PM
No, it sounds like Apple has added a brand new feature, and some guy wanted to experiment with it.
Her reaction must have been all that he hoped for. Both are pretty sick.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 2, Informative) by eof on Tuesday August 18 2015, @04:58PM
She said she was shocked, not traumatized (no variant of the word "trauma" appears in the article). Further, I can understand concern on her part. Unlike dogs in the yard, she was most likely targeted (and from close range). As the transport officer asked, "What's the next stage from sending a naked photograph to a stranger, what happens next, was he getting any sort of gratification from it?"
(Score: 1) by Francis on Tuesday August 18 2015, @06:37PM
Does the motive really matter here? Beyond the possibility that it's just one step to something else, I don't think whether or not he's wanking off at the thought of it is terribly important. Sending an image like that is presumably already covered under the UK's rules against sexual harassment. Barring some evidence that the man is also stalking her or has other things on his mind, that's all it is.
It's definitely something to report and look into, but most likely there's nothing more to it.
(Score: 1) by eof on Wednesday August 19 2015, @12:02AM
I agree there is probably not much more to it than someone get excited by breaching societal norms. I mention the quote simply to point out that, unlike the previous dog examples, there is the potential for some form of escalation. Note that I view the quote as representing two questions, the most important being "What's the next stage from sending a naked photograph to a stranger, what happens next?"
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 18 2015, @05:05PM
It is a little more unsettling than you might think. It is one thing to be walking down the street and getting flashed, or seeing a picture of a dick laying on the sidewalk, but it is another thing to have it pop up unsolicited on your personal device, sent directly to you. There is a level of violation there in that your personal space has been violated and that you were targeted (as opposed to something like getting a dick picture sent to you via a mass SPAM mailing).
It is more akin to coming home and finding that someone got into your house and left a dick picture on your counter. Sure, it is only a dick picture, but it becomes unsettling that someone got in your house in the first place. Also, not knowing her life story or personal hangups, given the sexual nature of the incident it isn't always as easy as telling her that if it "is inevitable, relax and enjoy it."
(Score: 2) by M. Baranczak on Tuesday August 18 2015, @06:07PM
It is more akin to coming home and finding that someone got into your house and left a dick picture on your counter.
Except in this case, you invited people to come and drop off pictures in your house.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 18 2015, @07:20PM
Not if you set up your phone to accept from known contacts, as the article seems to say.
Besides, even if the door was unlocked, you wouldn't find it wrong and disturbing if you found the picture on your counter? Or do you just blame yourself for leaving the door unlocked?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by FatPhil on Tuesday August 18 2015, @08:15PM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Wednesday August 19 2015, @07:37AM
However, it's summer, so I imagine many have their screen doors closed but their security door open.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by Anne Nonymous on Tuesday August 18 2015, @06:31PM
> Getting an unwanted dick pic on your phone is more equivalent to seeing dogs screwing in your front lawn.
Is it the equivalent of meatspace [yes, I meant to do that] flashing; and if so is that ok too?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday August 18 2015, @07:42PM
I'm trying to see this from more than one perspective.
Me, and most guys, would roll our eyes at a flasher. He's to damned retarded to take seriously.
I've known women with pretty much the same attitude. That, or they are just to dignified and unflappable to show the desired reaction.
Most women are shocked, and react predictably. And, that is exactly what the flasher is looking for. You ask "is that ok too?" Well, of course not. It's less alright than picking your nose in public. I just can't see making a big deal of it. The big deal only encourages and rewards the retard. Negative attention is better than no attention for some people.
I suppose that the right thing to do is to call the cops. My reaction to the story probably stems from "much ado about nothing". Some nobody flashes a woman, and it becomes an international story because it was done digitally. I'm pretty confident that someone was flashed in real life in Philadelphia this week, and someone was mooned in Boston, and on and on - but because it took place in meatspace, the media took no notice at all.
Shocking and newsworthy, because COMPUTERS!!
(Score: 2) by Anne Nonymous on Tuesday August 18 2015, @07:54PM
Interesting points, thank you.
(Score: 2) by Magic Oddball on Wednesday August 19 2015, @04:34PM
Since you're theoretically trying to see the issue from different perspectives:
If the woman doesn't spend time on the websites that resemble a men's locker room or other sites where trying to 'shock' people with images is normal, of course she's going to feel shocked. It's a logical reaction, not an undignified one.
Women that *do* spend time on those sites might not be shocked, meanwhile, but most would be somewhat alarmed by the pic, as it can be sent as an implied threat. Most of us learn early on that we're not remotely as strong as men (thus that we're in real trouble if one tackles us), and according to the BBC there's been a sharp rise in sexual assaults on the Tube. It's a bit like there being a sudden rash of bank robberies, then a guy sending a picture of a gun to a bank teller.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday August 19 2015, @05:37PM
Interesting. I like your choice of words with "alarmed". More women - and men - should be alarmed more often. The term shocked seems a bit overboard to me. Among other things, I do have EMT training (Emergency Medical Technician - spelled it out since you're on the other side of the big pond) and I associate shock with trauma. Alarmed. I'm fairly big, fairly strong, and I've held my own in plenty of fights - but I'm still alarmed if some guy starts following me. Being alarmed, I'll react differently than most women, but, yes, I'm alarmed. Alarm is a perfectly valid reaction when a potential threat is percieved.
(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Tuesday August 18 2015, @07:57PM
Forget boobs, send her goatse.