SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
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 bradley13 on Tuesday August 18 2015, @04:30PM
Some people are jerks, this is not new. She configures her phone to accept pictures from anyone, and some anonymous jerk sends her an unpleasant pic. The only person she has to blame is herself.
Not sure why depositing the pic should be criminal. Is it criminal if I tape a page from Hustler to someone's front door? That's the physical world equivalent, more or less.
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 18 2015, @05:08PM
First, thanks for that earth-shattering revelation, Captain Obvious.
Are you sure about that? Really? You don't think the guy sending anonymous dick pics isn't, at the very least, a bit off? So tell us, bradley13, how many anonymous dick pics have you sent to random strangers? What I find truly disturbing about the comments here is that the vast majority seem to condemn the woman for being foolish about the configuration of this sharing feature on her phone but apparently relatively few have a problem with some guy introducing himself to a stranger with a dick pic. What the hell is the matter with you guys?!?
IANAL, but I think that may count as vandalism. Just sayin'.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 18 2015, @11:12PM
Ah, "just sayin'" - when you realise don't have a very strong point but you decide to throw that in to try and impress the personal importance of your opinion on someone else.
Honestly, if you feel something is right but it isn't, don't say it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 19 2015, @12:18AM
Just sayin' is officially passe.
Just sayin'.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 19 2015, @01:35AM
I said it because I believe that bradley13's comments as to the legality of taping a picture from Hustler magazine to someone's front door were wrong. On the other hand, I prefaced my remark by pointing out that I am not a lawyer. So, it is possible I am wrong about this. If you know better than I on this point of law, by all means, show me a legal citation to disprove my point.
Just sayin'.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by RedBear on Tuesday August 18 2015, @06:09PM
First off, iOS devices are configured to accept everything sent via AirDrop by default, if AirDrop is enabled at all. Which I believe it is, by default, if you have Bluetooth enabled. Which again, is normally enabled by default, so that the user can use features like AirDrop and Handoff. So the "blame" for being able to receive an unwanted missive would be partially on Apple and only partially on the user of the device (if you have any reasonable expectations about how well-informed a typical user is about their device's capabilities). But that still leaves the sender who decided what image to send and then deliberately sent it. Only the sender knows if they deliberately targeted her device or just sent the image to whoever was in range. How about we pick today as the one day this year when you don't engage in victim blaming? I know it's counter to human instinct, but give it a try.
Second, exposing oneself in public or showing whatever is locally classified as obscene or adult material in public view is all classified as criminal behavior in many jurisdictions. If it were shown to a juvenile below the age of consent it would also be a sex crime against an underage victim in most jurisdictions. How anyone is confused by this concept I'm not sure.
Did I say that I agree that such things should necessarily be criminal offenses? Don't make assumptions.
¯\_ʕ◔.◔ʔ_/¯ LOL. I dunno. I'm just a bear.
... Peace out. Got bear stuff to do. 彡ʕ⌐■.■ʔ
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 18 2015, @07:54PM
While I largely agree with what you have said, I want to point out that even if this were not a criminal offense any guy doing this has issues that need to be addressed, most likely in a professional clinical environment.
(Score: 2) by turgid on Tuesday August 18 2015, @08:00PM
How would you like it if you were sat on public transport reading things on your phone quite innocently and some pr0n suddenly appeared? In public, in front of people?
Look at the perv surfing for pr0n in public!
From TFA: "The BTP has investigated the incident, but said because Ms Crighton-Smith did not "accept" the photograph there was no technological evidence for them to work with and recorded it as intelligence." Huh? Didn't "accept?" There is something wrong with an app for sharing images that lets you see the image without "accepting" it and the police saying you weren't the victim of an assault because you didn't "accept" it. Whatever next?
It's a pretty rotten, cowardly, disgusting thing to do to someone, male or female.
It's something that a lot of male brains seem to have trouble understanding. Who knows what goes through their minds.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 18 2015, @11:14PM
Ah but they are wrong - she did accept it. By having it turned on, and understanding that it was turned on, she accepted it.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anal Pumpernickel on Wednesday August 19 2015, @03:49AM
How would you like it if you were sat on public transport reading things on your phone quite innocently and some pr0n suddenly appeared? In public, in front of people?
The deeper issue is that there is a general sentiment that sex and nudity is bad. Puritanism is poison.
I would regard a random picture of a penis much like I regard spam: Useless.
(Score: 2) by turgid on Wednesday August 19 2015, @10:50AM
I don't think that line of reasoning applies in this case. There are good reasons why there are special times and places for all the nudity and sexual behaviour. Going about your lawful business in public is not one of them.
I suppose when I was younger, single, and desperate I'd have though it would be brilliant if young women randomly (or intentionally) sent me pictures of their naked bodies, but then I'm male, and that doesn't happen to most males unless they are incredibly rich and famous for some reason.
What would you hope would happen if you sent some woman you saw on the street a picture of your penis? Do you think she would get excited and ask to have sex with you? Maybe she would think "what a fun person, I'd like to go out with him." Or even, "what a joker, he sounds like a real laugh." Or maybe, "Oh, a random picture of a body part." Or maybe "How creepy." Or even "That's very worrying. Is there someone out there watching me who sees me as a target to be sexually assaulted?"
It's not funny.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 2) by Anal Pumpernickel on Wednesday August 19 2015, @01:29PM
There are good reasons why there are special times and places for all the nudity and sexual behaviour.
Such as? All of the reasons I've seen people put forth are subjective and arbitrary. I think nothing of any of it; I simply do not care about nudity or sex.
What would you hope would happen if you sent some woman you saw on the street a picture of your penis?
I don't know. It depends on the person. What would you hope would happen if you told a joke that involved cars, it just so happened that someone who had a traumatic experience with a car happened to be nearby, and you 'triggered' them? Anyone can get offended by anything. Even if you consider that this was intentional, the effect was still unknown.
It's not funny.
It's nothing at all to be sent a penis picture, as far as I'm concerned.
(Score: 2) by turgid on Wednesday August 19 2015, @09:10PM
Let me put this in simple terms. Suppose my wife and I met your wife and you one day and we all shook hands, Now suppose I dropped my trousers and underpants and waved my penis at your wife. Would that be all fine and dandy?
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 2) by Anal Pumpernickel on Thursday August 20 2015, @04:05AM
I wouldn't care if you were constantly naked. Laws against nudity are unjust puritan nonsense.
(Score: 1) by Oakenshield on Wednesday August 19 2015, @01:41PM
It's funny. I'm the opposite. The older I get, the less offended I am about such things. We live in times where nude selfies are everywhere. There is too much amateur porn online to fathom. Nipple slips are common. It's just anatomy. Don't be upset if I fail to get riled up about some hypersensitive snowflake who gets an unwanted picture on the on her phone using the service which is designed to accept anonymous files. Don't want it? TURN IT OFF! Surprise! No more anonymous pictures.
Just don't whine when I can't get worked up over a picture of the human body. If it wasn't for penis and vagina and all that nasty sex, you wouldn't be here to waste my time getting all indignant about prudish matters.