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With New Camera Phones, You Never Know Who's Watching
by Chris Noyes
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Imagine standing in front of the cashier at your favorite grocery store, waiting for the last of your items to be rung up. You notice nothing unusual – restless kids in shopping carts, a guy talking on his cell phone behind you. What you don’t realize is that the guy on the cell phone has a camera-equipped cell phone, and that it’s pointed at your open checkbook as you await the total from the cashier. Your check, in plain sight, has your address, phone number, account number and bank routing code.
OK, so maybe you don’t use checks. Instead, he now has a photo showing your name, credit card number and expiration date on a 1.2-megapixel camera phone. This phone doesn’t provide the jagged, pixelated images of the first generation of camera phones, but instead offers a very nice, high-quality picture. In seconds, that information can be sent anywhere in the world.
This might not be a widespread problem, but it brings up interesting questions of privacy and security. If a visitor came into your city’s Public Works Department with a digital camera hung around his neck, you might ask him either to leave it outside in his car or leave it at the receptionist’s desk until it’s time for him to leave. You wouldn’t want any sensitive municipal information, such as security holes, to be leaked to the outside world. So why wouldn’t you treat a camera phone in the same manner? Camera cell phones can take photos and videos that are just as good as those of entry-level digital cameras. You would never know if the person was talking on the phone or secretly snapping a photo of sensitive information. Considering the number of camera phones out in the public and the technology available to take a snapshot and instantly send it anywhere in the world – including a Web site or an e-mail address – it is increasingly important to be aware of this potential liability.
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There were 9 million camera-equipped cell phones sold in the United States in 2003. By 2005, 50 million will be sold, and by 2006, 80 percent of cell phones will have some type of camera device on them, many with videotaping capability. So what does this mean? Many companies and governmental agencies are enacting their own regulations to address this new and emerging technology. We all know that technology far outpaces legislation, so the public and private sectors already have begun banning camera-equipped cell phones before ownership becomes more commonplace. Some of the places that have banned camera cell phones are courthouses, financial and insurance institutions, even health clubs (for fear of people taking snapshots in the locker room). An overwhelming majority of camera phone users use them for harmless purposes, but it is unfortunate that a small percentage of people can ruin it for everyone else.
Some states do not have specific laws to cover this emerging technology, so the federal government has enacted the Video Voyeurism Prevention Act, which was updated in May 2004 to include camera cell phones. The State of Florida has enacted Sections 810.14 and 810.145, Florida Statutes, to address this issue as well. These laws basically protect people when they would have a reasonable expectation of privacy, even in a public place. When these laws were first introduced, the technology at hand was a bulky camcorder that you needed two hands to prop up on your shoulder or on a tripod. Now, however, the technology can be built into extremely small places that are not obvious even to the trained eye. With all of the potential repercussions that the emerging technology may bring, you might want to think about your municipality’s need to enact rules, ordinances or regulations regarding the use of these devices.
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The next time you go to buy a new cell phone, PDA or other hand-held device, you might want to think twice about the type you buy. Some PDAs and cell phones are modular, meaning you can purchase cameras as an accessory to the phone, not built directly into the device. Instead of having to hand over your cell phone at the door, you might just need to hand over your camera accessory instead. As more and more places ban the use of camera-equipped cell phones, you might be stuck without your contact information, meeting times, or the ability to make or receive an important phone call.
The technology was developed, shrunk into phones, and found mainstream success as a novelty for people to take innocent pictures and instantly send them to their friends and family. But just as any technology evolves, so does the potential for legal, security and ethical issues. Now we hear of lawsuits in which people are taking pictures up women’s skirts in public places, company secrets are leaked to competitors, and terrorists are casing “soft targets,” wanting to do us harm. With a current ban on flash photography on the New York City transit system, even that innocent camera-phone picture of your adventures on the subway could land you a fine.
This is not to suggest knee-jerk legislative action on the part of municipalities; however, they should be aware of the potential issues related to these emerging technologies.
Chris Noyes is the technical-services support specialist for the Florida League of Cities. For more information on this topic, please call him at (407) 425-9142 or send him an e-mail.
Reprinted from Quality Cities January/February 2005
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