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14 December 2004

Privacy Watchdog Warns of Spiralling Problem of Phone Camera Abuse. Organisation says all new phone cameras should be equipped with a default flash

The London based human rights watchdog Privacy International (PI) today called on cellphone providers in all countries to take immediate action to counter the growing problem of intrusive use of mobile phone cameras. The organisation is proposing a requirement that all new phone cameras should incorporate a default flash to prevent covert photography. PI believes this measure will be necessary to avoid endemic privacy abuse. The initiative is technically feasible.

Privacy International has reported a steep rise in the number of complaints from members of the public about misuse of the technology. Camera phones are increasingly used to take intimate and private images without consent, often resulting in embarrassment and harm to relationships. Such images can also be used as material for blackmail, revenge and harassment.

The practice has become so prevalent that numerous countries have pursued prohibitions and restrictive legislation. The US Congress is currently considering the Video Voyeurism Prevention Act. In Australia, phone cameras have been banned around swimming pools. In Taipei public concern has forced municipal authorities to place restrictions on their use in public places. In the United States, the UK and Canada they have been banned in changing rooms, workplaces and schools. Public complaints in Italy resulted in the publication by the national privacy watchdog of a Code of Practice.

Privacy International is calling on mobile phone manufacturers to agree on an international standard that requires a default flash whenever a picture is taken. This initiative, says the organisation, will at a stroke end many of the privacy invasions that occur.

The safeguard is necessary because the new generation of mobile phones will boast features that are similar to basic digital cameras. The first 2 megapixel cameras with auto focus have already been released onto the market. With the expected increase in bandwidth, the technology will easily become a voyeur's paradise.

Some manufacturers incorporate a default 'click' when a picture is taken. In many cases this feature can be disabled. Privacy International also notes that the click function is worthless in a noisy environment. Other cameras incorporate an LED light, but this feature can also be disabled.

Korean authorities were recently alerted to the problem after embarrassing photographs of unsuspecting victims, primarily women, started to appear on the Internet. Following an inquiry, the Ministry of Information and Communication last year announced that all future mobile handsets with cameras must produce a sound of at least 65 decibels whenever they are used to take a picture.

Korea considered the use of a default flash, but abandoned the idea when phone companies complained that the additional cost would damage Korea's sensitive export market. Privacy International argues that the creation of a global standard would neutralise competitive disadvantage.

Privacy International was moved to take action on the problem after being contacted by a Japanese woman whose marriage was ruined after a colleague had maliciously circulated covert photographs of the woman and a friend at a bar.

Privacy International's Director Simon Davies said 'The misuse of phone cameras is becoming a real threat to privacy. Unless action is taken immediately there is a risk that social intimacy will disappear within a decade'.

Mr Davies pointed out that the threats from phone cameras were 'substantively greater' than those arising from conventional photography. 'The ability to covertly capture images and then instantly transmit those images removes any safeguard for the victim', he warned.

'Phone companies have a legal and a moral responsibility to fix these problems' he added. 'This is not an attack on the technology. It is a call to make the technology safe.'