T&Ted? Privacy, Computers and Professionalism.

November 22, 2009 by Taran Rampersad

Yes, I saw the videos of Anya Ayoung-Chee. I did so out of curiosity and because they were available online. The cinematography wasn't great but the content was most certainly compelling - and of higher quality than locally made porn videos. Did I really need to see the videos? No, not really. If you asked me why I watched them, I could write (as Jonathan Miller did) that I saw them 'in the interest in journalism'. And that would be partly true. The real truth is that I wanted to see what everyone was talking about.

And the locally made porn videos? Everyone I have spoken to, both men and women, say that they watch them to see if they know the people in them - it certainly can't be the quality of the movies that attracts people. Trinidad and Tobago is a small country. We pay attention to things such as this, but can't seem to catch criminals. Perhaps instead of posting things on Facebook, they should consider releasing porn videos of criminals.

But back to the videos getting all the attention. Sure, Anya and friends were quite obviously having a consensually great time - enough so that it seems that everyone held the camera at one point or another. She says that she is waiting for the right time to talk about the issue, but what she is really doing is waiting for it to blow over. I know I would, though you won't find porn videos of me floating around. I just don't have the kind of draw she does.

Rather than make jokes about her or discuss her extracurricular interests, we should look at how the video made it onto the world wide web. The story goes that her boyfriend, appropriately named Mr. Gallery (To gallery is a T&T colloquialism for showing off), dropped his laptop off for repairs somewhere. And when he did so, the people who were repairing the laptop found the videos.

And someone, apparently, put those videos on the web.

Professionalism

I've done my share of computer repairs - I even taught it at The University of the West Indies School of Continuing Studies - but I extended my own ethics to my work. A trustworthy professional would not have released those videos. In that, I believe that the people who released the videos did betray a trust. Peoples files are private by default. That they would be seen otherwise demonstrates a level of unprofessionalism that is disturbing. 

It should make people wonder how safe their files actually are when they send their computers off to get repaired. This incident, while damning for Anya Ayoung-Chee and costars, is damning for the Trinidad and Tobago computer industry. I would love to know who the idiot was that released the videos and I most certainly hope that they are held accountable for the breach of trust.

Jonathan Miller wrote, 'Needless to say, I will let you all come up with your definition of the verb to be "T&Ted"'. Unfortunately, I think that definition means having trust betrayed by someone pretending to be a professional.

Keep your private files off your systems or encrypt them. You never know when your computer will need to be repaired.

And for myself, I think the most appropriate verb to use would be that she was Galleried.

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