New Phones Raise Privacy Fears

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,113632,tk,dn120403X,00.asp' target='_blank'>http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,113632,tk,dn120403X,00.asp</a><br /><br /></div>"You've just flipped the bird at a driver who splashed you with mud. A rude moment soon forgotten by anyone who saw it, right? Maybe not, if one of those witnesses has a cell phone with a digital camera. Long a staple overseas, "cam phones" arrived here in 2002, promising sleek and cheap--under $100--fun with a voyeuristic twist. And they're taking off: 7 million of 72 million cell phones shipped in the U.S. have cameras; by 2007, 51 million out of over 110 million will have them, predicts research firm IDC.<br /><br />The same size as regular cell phones, cam phones can snap photos while users appear to make calls. Candid shots can be e-mailed to friends or sent to sites that have automated "moblogging" (mobile blogging) such as Buzznet.com, Fotolog.net, and Textamerica.com, and there viewed worldwide in seconds. That means every faux pas, and even more private moments (in locker rooms or store dressing areas, say), can become fodder for public consumption."<br /><br />So, what do you think? Are camera phones more trouble that they're worth, or do they represent a truly useful digital tool? Never having had a phone with a camera built in, I'm sitting in the middle on this one. I can see the potential for abuse, but that doesn't invalidate the usefulness of a technology - people can get addicted to online gambling, but that doesn't mean that Internet access is an evil thing. <br /><br />One of the things I believe will start to happen is that phone makers will have to start offering two otherwise identical models: one with a camera, and one without. There are too many instances and companies that are banning camera phones, and a phone OEM doesn't want to shut off sales to a whole segment of the market.<br /><br />What do you think about camera phones?

[pdantic]

From a personal standpoint, I've found that camera phones are the most fun "tools" in my collection of gadgets. Not only do they provide me with an artistic outlet in the middle of my daily drudgery (see my moblog at http://pdantic.textamerica.com as an example) but I've actually been able to use them AT work to take as-built pictures of wiring closets, wireless LAN access point installations, etc.

As you mention, though, there are many companies that are banning camera phones for security reasons. For example, my wife works for a company that has such tight security that she can't bring a standard mobile phone to work so I'm sure that a camera phone would be grounds for termination. :ninja:

Although a plug-in camera is easy to lose and doesn't give users as much of a chance for spontaneous photos, that's probably the best solution for people who want the fun of camera phones but can't constantly have the photographic capability available.

[FuzzyClam]

Camera phones are worthless. The images stink.

The main problem is corporate security. At the workplace of everyone I know (this includes stock brokers, accountants, IT folks, etc.) there are large signs threatening immediate dismissal for using a cell phone with a camera in it.

I'm switching my SE T615 for a phone without a camera. Until now, I've put white out over the lens (easily scraped off on the weekend) to get by.

[tulrich]

I generally find camera phones obnoxious, but more from a consumer choice point of view. I have no desire to use my phone as a digital camera (I only believe in convergence up to a point), but I hate the idea that as more handset makers release camera phones in the mid to high range of their portfoilos (Motorola and Samsung being prime examples), consumers will have little choice but to buy a phone with a camera. This leads to a situation where consumers like myself are pushed into paying the extra hardware and software costs for features we will never use. With the release of Smartphone 2003, I fear this trend will grow in the smartphone market as well.

I really believe that if they are going to start producing more and more camera phones, handset manufacturers should also produce camera-free versions of the same phones (I also think they should make GSM and CDMA versions of every phone model and that all CDMA handsets should be SIM-capable...call me crazy). Or make more phones that have optional camera add-ons. Sure, it will never happen, but it would be the consumer-friendly way of doing business.