Cyber-flashing. It’s a thing now.
Shopping. Socialising. Working. It seems that for every year that goes by, we can do more activities on the Internet instead of in the real world.
It can often feel like we never really have to leave the comforting glow of our computer or phone screens.
And if this week’s disturbing incident is any indication, even those creepy trench coat-laden oddballs walking around parks exposing themselves to women may have even taken the transition to cyberspace.
Lorraine Crighton-Smith from the UK was travelling on a train in South London when her phone beeped indicated that someone had sent a request using Apple’s AirDrop feature. AirDrop is a technology specific to Apple’s iOs that works via Bluetooth allowing people to send files to nearby devices without the need for Wi-Fi or a storage medium.
Upon looking at the message, Smith was shocked to discover a photo of a man’s penis. Instinctively rejecting the photo, another one appeared, and Smith realised the sender of the photos must have been near her, possibly on the same train.
She told the BBC,
“So, I declined the image, instinctively, and another image appeared, at which [point] I realised someone nearby must be sending them, and that concerned me. I felt violated, it was a very unpleasant thing to have forced upon my screen.`
“I was also worried about who else might have been a recipient, it might have been a child, someone more vulnerable than me.
“My name on Airdrop says Lorraine so they knew they were sending it to a woman. The images were of a sexual nature and it was distressing.”
As if there were not enough dangers that come with networking your devices, cyber flashing is certainly an unwelcome surprise. Police in the UK has said it is the first instance they have dealt with where Apple’s AirDrop has been used in this manner.
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But don’t worry, it’s easily avoidable. Apple AirDrop limits the people who can send you files to your contacts by default, and we recommend leaving it that way. If you need to disable that option to send files to someone not on your contact list – like Smith did – we recommend re-enabling the default option once you’re done.
The same applies to all Bluetooth technologies. Bluetooth allows people to see each other’s devices that are physically nearby, despite not necessarily knowing each other. But most technologies allow people to limit visibility and functionality to only people that they know, and it is recommended to use those restrictions.