Cell Phones with Cameras

[Jade Tigress]

This has never really bothered me before. My daughter has one, my neice has one. They goof around and take pics of their friends.

Well, yesterday I was sitting in my car outside the kwoon waiting for the instructor to arrive. I saw an attractive woman walking on the other side of the street and a man walking in the opposite direction on the side I was parked on. He discreetly stopped, took his phone out of his pocket, subtley pointed toward the woman and took her pic, he quickly looked at it to make sure he got it, flipped the phone closed and contined on his way with the woman none the wiser.

I know we live in a society of decreasing privacy, and to be honest I'm not bothered by much of it. If I'm shopping I expect to be on surveillence cameras, if I'm driving I know I may be on a traffic camera. Whatever. But I never considered some random stranger could take my picture with a camera phone without my knowledge. It was just really creepy to watch.

What are your opinions of cell phone cameras?

 

[Bob Hubbard]

I think they are crap....can't stand em..


As to his actions, probably legal as long as he doesn't post the pic anywhere.

 

[Steel Tiger]

The craze with these cameras has gotten pretty wierd. In the UK and here in Australia people are being paid (200 pounds/$500Aus) for any pictures of celebrities. I suspect it is as bad if not worse in the states. This sought of thing encourages an ugly disrespect for another's privacy.

At the Australian Open tennis just recently a number of men were thrown out of Melbourne Park because they were using cell phone cameras to take upskirt shots of women. It was quite startling how many there were caught. It makes me wonder just how many got away with it.

 

[terryl965]

It just kills me that no-one had privacy anymore

 

[14 Kempo]

I agree, nobody has any privacy nowadays, too many people abuse them, as in the case Jade brought to light. Although I have to admit, a cell phone camera can come in very handy in some situations, such as traffic accidents, witnessed robberies, etc.

 

[Kacey]

This came up recently at a school in Castle Rock, which is between Denver and Colorado Springs:

Middle-school kids forwarded girls' nude picsCops investigating dozens implicated in Castle Rock
By Gabriela Resto-Montero
Denver Post Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: 03/09/2007 01:34:31 AM MST

Castle Rock - Pictures of naked middle- school girls that classmates forwarded on their cellphones have triggered a criminal investigation.
At least one of the digital pictures reached as far as California over the Internet, said Tony Lane, Castle Rock police chief.

"We can't stop what's already happened," Lane said Thursday. "It's kind of like a wildfire. ... We can track down everyone who's received the pictures."

Police say the girls at Castle Rock Middle School took naked pictures of themselves on their cellphones and then sent them to their boyfriends. The boys then forwarded the pictures to their friends.

Dozens of students at the school, which includes seventh and eighth grades, have already been implicated in the forwarding of the pictures, Lane said. The Internet Crimes Against Children team of Castle Rock police is investigating.

Complete story here; a later article gave the follow-up:

Prosecutors won't file charges in youth cell phone nudity case
The Associated Press
Article Last Updated: 03/15/2007 06:55:29 PM MDT

CASTLE ROCK, Colo.- Prosecutors investigating reports that middle school students had taken nude pictures of each other on their cell phones said Thursday they found no criminal wrongdoing and will not file any charges. District Attorney Carol Chambers said there is evidence at least one of the photos did get onto the Internet, but there is no evidence of criminal intent or adult involvement.

"I think it was kids being kids and just goofing around," she said. "There were no sexual implications."

Many cell phones come with built-in cameras, allowing people to send pictures electronically both from phone to phone and to the Internet, Chambers said. The children involved were 12 and 13 years old and may not have realized the serious repercussions.

So for these kids, at least, cell phone cameras have become so common-place, and forwarding the pictures so normal, that they went too far... I'm not sure I agree with the lack of charges - not felonies, perhaps, but something for them to truly understand the seriousness of what they did.

 

[Drac]

I think they are crap....can't stand em..

What he said...

 

[Don Roley]

At the Australian Open tennis just recently a number of men were thrown out of Melbourne Park because they were using cell phone cameras to take upskirt shots of women. It was quite startling how many there were caught. It makes me wonder just how many got away with it.

Hmmmm? In Japan, every cell phone has a loud sound of some sort when pictures are taken to try to prevent this type of thing. I thought it was standard for the entire world. Is that not the case?

And on a related note, just how often do people use these things in the states and elsewhere? I have gotten pretty used to someone using one in sight of me on pretty much a daily basis. But I relalized while back that Japanese have had a very well deserved reputation for taking photos before cell phone cameras came along. (As a matter of fact, the idea to put a camera in a cell phone came from Japan when someone found out that the two most likely things to be found in a purse were a cell phone and a disposable camera.) So, are they used only every so often in America?

 

[Andrew Green]

I'm not sure I agree with the lack of charges - not felonies, perhaps, but something for them to truly understand the seriousness of what they did.

You lead to a rather weird situation though, the child involved is both the abused and the abuser as child porn laws revolve around it being a form of child abuse. There have been some wacky cases in similar situations. Teens being tried as adults for taking pictures of themselves, which was a crime as they where not adults.

Anyways, back to topic. Yup, thats creepy. Not really much that can be done about it though, public place and all. People will be creepy no matter what technology is available to them.

Personally, I'd much prefer them put the money they put into phone gimics into giving me longer battery life and better reception. I want my phone for making phone calls, not taking crap quality pictures on a tiny screen and then having to pay to send them to somewhere I can actually view them full sized.

 

[crushing]

I thought camera phones were like picture-in-picture on your television set. The only time you use it is when you want to show someone you have it.

I don't know what recourse one may have if someone photographs you without consent. Fortunately for me I suppose, and unlike the attractive woman, I don't think I have to worry about it.

 

[exile]

What I find troubling is the combination of easy covert photography with available advanced image-management technologies. Imagine, at current rates of technological progress, where cell phone photographic capabilities on the one hand and Photoshop-type digital image manipulation apps on the other will be in five or ten years. How the hell is anyone going to be able to distinguish a genuine photograph from a completely fabricated visual lie?

 

[Jonathan Randall]

I think they are crap....can't stand em..


As to his actions, probably legal as long as he doesn't post the pic anywhere.

Depends. There are laws in many jurisdictions against taking pictures for sexual gratification - without the consent of the person whose picture is being taken. One school teacher, IIRC, faces jail time in one case for taking such pictures of girl's wrestling matches.

BTW, the resolution and quality (usually synonymous, but not always) of many of today's cell phone cameras is quite startling. I do know that my sister's makes a very audible (electronically generated) "click" when it is used. If this type of abuse that Jade notices gets enough attention, I see it becoming mandated that such sounds are made.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

There will still always be a few who will develop hacks to circumvent such things.

 

[Jonathan Randall]

There will still always be a few who will develop hacks to circumvent such things.

Yes, indeed. I was thinking about that as I posted my last response. Unfortunately, most of us, the ladies sadly in particular, have probably been victims of such covert, unethical and illegal spying at some point in our lives. Sad.

 

[Cryozombie]

I did some installations in a health club that had to ban cell phone use in the locker rooms because they had problems with cameraphones being used.

That said, I have less problems with camera phones, which are at least partially obvious than I do with some of the hidden spycams you can buy on ebay...

 

[Jonathan Randall]

I did some installations in a health club that had to ban cell phone use in the locker rooms because they had problems with cameraphones being used.

That said, I have less problems with camera phones, which are at least partially obvious than I do with some of the hidden spycams you can buy on ebay...

Yes. I'd be astonished if those aren't being abused on a massive scale.

 

[Bigshadow]

Cell phones with cameras are not an issue for me. I think they can be useful but I prefer my digital camera over my Treo 650 camera.

As for the sounds, the camera on my phone, I can turn off the shutter sound and even if the shutter sound is on, I have manual switch on the phone to turn off ALL sounds. I thought most phones had a mute switch whether in software or physical.

That being said, people often use them in inappropriate ways.

 

[Ray]

If the inventors wanted to put something useful in a cell phone, I'm thinking a universal remote would be convenient. And a phaser...

And I'm probably the only person in the world who has a land line specifically so I can call my cell phone and hunt it down while it rings...

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

I am not a big fan of cell phones at all but every once in awhile they can be useful. Having said that it truly is a shame when some individual uses it to invade someone else's personal space.

 

[mrhnau]

I did some installations in a health club that had to ban cell phone use in the locker rooms because they had problems with cameraphones being used.

I've heard of a company or two in Japan banning them. That could be a potential security nightmare. Just take a picture of secret/secure documents!