When Private Texts Go Public: A Cybersecurity Wake-Up Call
We all have contacts in our phones we probably shouldn't message — individuals who might screenshot and share our private conversations. French President Emmanuel Macron learned this lesson dramatically when former U.S. President Donald Trump publicly posted screenshots of their text exchange. While world leaders' behavior raises unique concerns, this incident reflects our broader digital reality where private citizens routinely surveil each other, often with punitive intent.
The Legal Landscape of Digital Disclosure
Maria Villegas Bravo, counsel for the Electronic Privacy Information Center, explains that Trump's actions likely violated no international treaties or laws. "There's no real expectation of privacy outside of the trust you place in these other people," she told HuffPost. "It's definitely breaking an unspoken mutually-assured agreement among diplomatic corps and world leaders."
However, the consequences extend beyond legality. Villegas Bravo warns this could damage international trust and candid communication between governments. "I do believe this is going to limit a lot of the trust and ability of world leaders from speaking candidly — maybe not through official channels with the U.S. government," she said. The incident also highlights transparency concerns, as informal communications may not be properly documented for public records requests.
Protections for Private Citizens
Ordinary people do have some legal protections unavailable to world leaders. If private information is "leaked to the press or the community at large," Villegas Bravo notes, you might sue when privacy violations become "sufficiently widespread to be constituted as disclosure." Some state laws, like New Jersey's Daniel's Law, allow certain protected individuals to have personal information removed from public websites.
Yet these protections don't cover situations where someone you willingly communicated with decides to share your messages. "The trustworthiness of the person on the other end matters a whole lot," Villegas Bravo emphasizes, especially when using informal channels like texting.
The Golden Rule of Digital Communication
Experts agree the best defense is simple: don't send anything via text you wouldn't want made public. Villegas Bravo references a common legal refrain: "Don't send an email, don't send a text, unless you're willing to have a judge read it into the record at trial." This principle applies to everyone, from world leaders to private citizens sharing sensitive details.
Choosing the right communication channel is equally crucial. Villegas Bravo advises "monitoring your communications, knowing what should be an in-person conversation versus what should be written down versus what should be maybe a phone call." This consideration extends to activists in encrypted group chats, where false security assumptions can be dangerous.
Understanding Your Digital Environment
Thorin Klosowski, a security and privacy activist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, warns against overconfidence in encrypted platforms. "I think people get a little bit more willy-nilly there, thinking 'Oh, I'm on an encrypted chat platform. Therefore, this is safe,'" he told HuffPost. "But that just accounts for one part of the equation. If there's people you don't know in there, that's always gonna be a risk — even just people that you do know who maybe you don't trust super well."
Klosowski emphasizes knowing who's in your group chats, as "forgetting who is in them or not knowing everyone who is in them is kind of a recipe for something to get screenshot or shared without your knowledge." Once something is shared, options are limited — mostly appealing to the recipient's humanity to remove it.
Practical Cybersecurity Measures
This high-profile incident serves as an opportunity to improve personal digital hygiene. Both experts recommend familiarizing yourself with encrypted messaging options and their features. Klosowski notes that "with one-on-one communications, you can turn on something like disappearing messages, which at least makes it so something doesn't stick around — but does not stop someone from screenshotting in the moment."
Understanding your apps' specific functions — from disappearing messages to group chat settings — is essential. "There's not a magic bullet here," Klosowski admits. "Having a curiosity about how these work and actually spending time in them instead of just sending messages back and forth and assuming you're safe is the best way to protect yourself."
Resources like the Electronic Frontier Foundation's "Surveillance Self Defense Toolkit" can help individuals develop cybersecurity practices suited to their communication styles. Ultimately, digital security requires continuous attention to both technological tools and human relationships in our connected world.
