It’s surprising to hear that anyone leaves their smartphone without any security protection at all these days, and even more so when they have photos of a risqué nature stored on it. Unfortunately for Leigh Anne Arthur, a teacher from South Carolina, not setting up a password, pattern, or fingerprint authentication led to her losing her job.
While Arthur was out on hall duty, a 16-year old student decided to browse through her phone, which had been left on the desk. As there was no security on the device, he had complete access, and while looking at the photos discovered a nude (or partially nude, depending on the report) selfie. Sadly for Arthur, the student then took a picture of the picture with his own phone, and proceeded to share it with friends and even worse, through social networks.
Once the picture, and what happened, came to light, Arthur was forced to resign from the school. Arthur said the photo was meant for her husband, and that she shouldn’t be punished for the student’s actions. She told WYFF4.com “He had the ultimate decision to take pictures of my pictures and he had the ultimate decision to send them out.” However, school superintendent David Eubanks said that because the phone was unlocked and out in the open, she essentially “made the nude picture available to her students.”
The story is far from over. Inside Edition reports that the State Police are investigating and a decision has yet to be reached over whether the student will be charged. There’s a petition with 10,000-plus signatures to reinstate Leigh Anne Arthur, which is blighted by claims she routinely allowed students to use her phone.
Regardless of what happens from here, it’s a stark reminder that we should all secure our phones to prevent others from accessing the data stored on them. Whether it’s our contacts, messages, bank details, or dirty selfies — it should all be kept safe from prying eyes.
