Latest news with #privacyviolation
Malay Mail
a day ago
- Malay Mail
BTS flight data leak: South Korea probes airline staff, two others over celeb privacy breach
SEOUL, July 23 — Three individuals, including an employee of a foreign airline, have reportedly been referred for prosecution in South Korea for allegedly acquiring and selling the flight details of celebrities, including members of BTS. According to a report in The Korea Herald, the airline staff member is suspected of accessing internal systems to obtain the information and passing it to others, who then sold it via social media channels. Citing industry sources, the report said the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency found evidence of both unauthorised access and financial transactions worth tens of millions of won. Entertainment company Hybe, which represents BTS, was said to have played a key role in advancing the investigation by monitoring online activity and submitting evidence to authorities. 'We maintain a zero-tolerance policy toward crimes that commercialize and traffic in artists' personal information,' Hybe reportedly said. The case has raised fresh concerns over repeated privacy violations by 'sasaeng' fans who attempt to track celebrities during flights, according to the report.
The Sun
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
BBC star reveals horror after landlord recorded naked images on hidden spy cam
A BBC actress has told of her horror after discovering her landlord planted a spy cam in her bathroom. The Scots star — who has appeared in prime-time comedies and dramas — found the recording device hidden in a washing basket after taking a shower. 4 4 4 She fled the flat before watching back the footage and finding intimate clips of herself — plus an image of the creep changing the memory card. Cops have launched a probe. Last night the telly star said: 'I was in a state of absolute shock. He filmed me when I was at my most vulnerable.' The performer told how she moved into the property in France last July after a break-up with a boyfriend. Her 40-something landlord — whom she believed was a drug user — soon seemed suspicious. The actress recalled: 'Something didn't feel right with him.' Later she found two holes drilled into the bathroom wall which she plugged with cotton earbuds. And the night before she found the recording device she claimed the sicko spiked her drink. She recalled: 'It was like something out of a horror movie. 'I always used to notice this little black dot in the washing basket across from the shower. 'I never in a million years thought he'd be spying on me. But given what had happened the night before, I went to have a closer look. 'My heart just stopped and I burst into tears. There was a green light flashing on the camera. 'I knew that it was on and I was being recorded.' Initially she remained in the bathroom and switched off the lights fearing the sicko could be waiting outside 'with a knife'. Eventually she packed a bag and fled the property before returning with cops days later. She eventually plucked up the courage to watch the video and was horrified saying: 'I was in complete shock.'
RNZ News
24-06-2025
- RNZ News
Daine Williams jailed after young girl finds camera, exposes years of voyeuristic filming
By Tracy Neal, Open Justice multimedia journalist of Daine Williams sobbed during sentencing in the Nelson District Court on charges related to him secretly filming multiple victims. Photo: NZME / Tracey Neal Warning: This story contains details of offending that may upset some readers A young girl who spotted a hidden camera perched on the windowsill of her family bathroom threw it out the window. She then went and told her parents, who found it in the garden, leading to the discovery of a cache of disturbing material, including images of their child in the shower. Now, Daine Arthur Williams has been jailed for secretly filming people, mainly women and girls in their bathrooms and members of the public as they walked about the city streets. Williams wore a camera on his shoe and targeted women in dresses so he could capture "upskirted" images of them. Some victims were colleagues at a former workplace. Others were unknowingly filmed as they walked around Nelson. In another instance, he filmed a man using the toilet and then taking a shower. During Williams' sentencing in the Nelson District Court today, Judge Tony Snell said it was apparent that Williams had been secretly filming people for years. He had been caught but was never prosecuted and had gone on to re-offend. Judge Snell described Williams as "highly manipulative and capable of outrageous lies". In many instances, he filmed himself turning the camera on and off, which is what led the police to him when the camera was handed in. Williams, who appeared to sob frequently throughout the hearing, will be banned from returning to the Nelson region, following his release from a two-and-a-half-year prison term. Judge Snell said that the "crocodile tears" he once shed, pretending to care for one of his victims before it was known he was the offender, demonstrated the "manipulative and nasty person" he was. The 40-year-old was sentenced on charges of knowingly making an objectionable publication, four charges of making an intimate visual recording, burglary and two representative charges of possessing an intimate visual recording. The charges related to video footage police found in Williams' possession, involving three victims from one family Williams knew, and 20 other victims whom the police could not identify. One of three known victims said in a highly charged delivery of her victim impact statement that the toll taken by the discovery had been "profound". "Our hearts are shattered and fear has consumed us. We no longer feel safe in our home." She added the sense of betrayal had been overwhelming, and she remained haunted by the thought of how long Williams might have been filming them. "The hurt and anger you have caused is impossible to describe," she said tearfully. Crown prosecutor Jackson Webber said there were "numerous" aggravating features to Williams' offending, including the high degree of pre-meditation and planning. He watched his victims for months and devised an exit strategy for if he was caught. Defence lawyer Michael Vesty said Williams accepted the great deal of violation felt by the victims, and that the shockwaves had gone way beyond him to his family and extended family. On a night in October last year, Williams went to the victims' address, opened a bathroom window and placed a camera on the windowsill inside. At 6am the next morning, he recorded a young girl, known as victim one, as she went about her morning routine. She saw the gooseneck, adjustable camera and threw it out the window, thinking it was a "walkie talkie". Her parents retrieved it from the garden, and called the police. An initial download revealed six media files containing three videos stored on an SD card, one of which was 20 minutes long and showed a child unknowingly exposing herself while showering and drying herself. Once the camera had been found, but before Williams was identified, he spoke with one of the victims, saying he was "sorry" such a thing had happened to them. He even began to tear up, and hug the victim, the police summary of facts said. He suggested others as the culprits then asked the victim how her husband was coping because "the role of a father is to protect your kids, and, in this situation, he hasn't been able to". Judge Snell said that comment made the father a victim, also. He said Williams' "predatory, invasive and horrible offending" for his own voyeuristic sexual gratification had had terrible consequences, for those that knew about it. On 11 November last year police searched Williams' home and found items, including clothing, that matched what was seen in one of the videos. Police said the camera and SD card were sent to a digital forensic unit for further examination, which revealed deleted items including more video files of the family's bathroom from different camera angles, while another was a video of victim one walking into her bedroom, wrapped in a towel. The discovery that many others had been secretly filmed followed the seizure of electronic items during the search of Williams' home on 11 November. Included among the items were three "exhibits" containing 38 videos and one "image of interest". Twenty-seven of the 38 videos found were captured from the camera on Williams' shoe, of which 11 were "upskirting" videos. In one instance, he spent a minute doing this, and in another, he spent almost half an hour filming 16 women walking around Nelson, aged from young teens to adults. Police said Williams' targeting of four victims, who were captured on "multiple occasions" after they were followed, showed "predatory, stalking behaviour". The videos, which ranged in length, showed unknown bathrooms and a person using a shower in a cubicle with no door and a toilet. In one video Williams captured himself setting up the camera in a bathroom and calling out "the bathroom's free" as a teenage girl walked in, turned on the shower and got undressed. The video stopped before she got out. Judge Snell said that Williams, if left untreated, presented a high risk of re-offending. He was automatically registered as a child sex offender. * This story originally appeared in the New Zealand Herald .
South China Morning Post
21-06-2025
- South China Morning Post
US doctor who posted videos of decapitated baby must pay parents US$2 million
An Atlanta doctor and his clinic must pay US$2.25 million to a couple after posting to his public social media account graphic videos of their decapitated baby during an autopsy, a jury has decided. Advertisement Jackson Gates and his business, Medical Diagnostic Choices, were found liable by default in the lawsuit brought against them by Jessica Ross and Treveon Taylor after the couple discovered the social media posts. Ross and Taylor said they were horrified and outraged when they learned Gates had published without their knowledge or permission images of their child, who was decapitated during a difficult delivery July 9, 2023. The couple had hired Gates to perform an autopsy. On Wednesday, an Atlanta jury awarded the couple US$2 million in compensation and US$250,000 in damages designed to punish Gates and Medical Diagnostic Choices. The jurors found Gates did not intend to cause harm. 'They asked for US$30 million and they got just over US$2 million,' said Gates' lawyer, Ira Livnat. 'Obviously we were disappointed with the verdict, but the jurors' finding that he did not act with specific intent to cause harm was very significant.' Advertisement Lawyers for Ross and Taylor said they are pleased the jury punished Gates for his 'reprehensible' behaviour, though nothing can ease the couple's pain over their son's 'horrific' death.
The Independent
05-06-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Senior aide to New Zealand prime minister resigns over secret recordings of sex workers
A senior aide to New Zealand prime minister Christopher Luxon has resigned after being accused of secretly recording sex workers and taking non-consensual photos and videos of women. The allegations against Michael Forbes surfaced when a sex worker discovered his phone was recording audio while he was in the shower, NZ 's Stuff reported earlier this week. Mr Luxon's deputy chief press secretary has since offered his 'sincerest apologies to the women I have harmed'. PM Luxon called the revelations a 'shock' and said that Mr Forbes' behaviour was 'unacceptably short of the standards that I expect from our people'. 'My sympathy is with the women who raised these allegations and were made to feel unsafe due to the actions of this person,' Mr Luxon said on Thursday. According to Stuff, Mr Forbes' encounter with the sex worker took place in July 2024. After being confronted about the secret audio recording, he reportedly handed over his phone password. The woman, along with other sex workers from that brothel, discovered numerous audio recordings of similar sessions, along with photos and videos on the device. At the time, Mr Forbes was serving as press secretary to social development minister Louise Upston. He was appointed acting deputy chief press secretary to the prime minister in February this year. Police reportedly looked into the allegations in July last year but ultimately chose not to pursue charges. Mr Luxon said: 'We had no awareness, no knowledge of it. The concerns were raised with us by a journalist at four o'clock on Tuesday,' he said. The prime minister said that the police investigation was not disclosed to Mr Forbes' employer under the 'no surprises' convention, nor did Mr Forbes disclose the allegations himself. 'He was vetted coming into Louise Upston's office. As I understand it, the incidents happened subsequent to that,' he said. 'He has an obligation to actually declare those issues or those incidences to us. That didn't happen, which is why his employment would have been terminated.' In a statement to RNZ on Thursday, detective inspector John Van Den Heuvel from Wellington police said that 'on examining the phones, police also found a number of photos and video of women in public spaces, and what appears to be women in private addresses, taken from a distance away'. 'Police considered the available evidence and concluded it did not meet the requirements for criminality, and therefore charges could not be filed. 'The individual concerned voluntarily spoke with police and admitted to taking the images and recordings. He was reminded of the inappropriateness of his behaviour and encouraged to seek help.' Meanwhile, the prime minister said: 'When you have an incident like this, it actually creates a whole bunch of new questions.' He added: 'They need to do a deep dive on understanding how and what happened here and why. And importantly, then look at what we need to do to strengthen our processes.' In a statement, Mr Forbes said on Wednesday: 'In the past, I was in a downward spiral due to unresolved trauma and stress, and when confronted with the impacts of my behaviour a year ago, I sought professional help, which is something I wish I had done much earlier.' He said: 'What I failed to do then was make a genuine attempt to apologise. Instead, I tried to move on without offering those I had harmed the acknowledgement, accountability, or amends they deserved. I recognise how wrong that was.' 'I understand that my past actions may have undermined the trust people place in me. So, I have resigned from my job to focus on the work I need to do.' The office of Mr Forbes' former boss Mr Upston said in a statement: 'The minister was not aware of any allegations before they were raised with PMO yesterday. Minister Upston has nothing further to add to the PMs statement on this.'
