Camera phones: privacy nightmare or creative boon?

After getting my older daughter a new phone for Christmas, with a camera function that all the newer phones seem to be including, I began taking a lively interest in the debate that is beginning to rage. Are camera phones a security liability and privacy intrusion or simply another giant societal stride that convergent and disruptive technology brings? Globally, there are estimates of 80 million camera phones sold by year-end (that's 2003, folks!), and one billion by the end of 2005. Enough to change things fundamentally.

An article on Silicon.com (at http://www.silicon.com/networks/mobile/0,39024665,39117381,00.htm) suggests that corporations risk budding James Bonds or industrial spies being able to much more easily, and essentially undetected, capture images that can compromise the operations of any organisation. As long as I can remember there have been "No cameras allowed in this Lab/Site" in the large IT company I work for...for obvious reasons.

In reality, that has been very hard to police, and now it becomes close to impossible. What do you do with every visitor? "Please hand over your mobile phone sir" or "Madam, we need to stick this security strip over your Phone camera's lens while you are with us"? What about employees, or even worse, those who might be planning to leave your employ?

The consumer face of this is, of course, digital shoplifting. Snapshotting magazine articles is still mostly constrained by the poor image quality (at the moment), but that will change soon, and so more nefarious uses will undoubtedly emerge. [They're likely to be fringe elements, like those who resell shaky videos of current feature films taken while in the theatre. -- Ed.]

On the other hand, all those clamouring about invasion of privacy are another cup of tea entirely. I have no sympathy with these concerns when exercised in public, where frankly, everything is public after all. What is an interesting dilemma however, is where camera phones are taken into gyms and indoor sports complexes, men's rooms, and ladies' rooms. Should someone be able to "talk" on a mobile in the changing room? Public exposure starts to raise a few eyebrows in this context of misuse. The etiquette and rules constraining professional photographers (and amateurs) should have the same bearing on camera phone snappers, but will they?

On the upside, the innovative uses of on-the-spot camera phones already stretches the imagination. I've taken a few sample pictures with my camera phone to illustrate the benefits.

Figure A shows a picture of an injured person, providing early injury assessment in accident situations.

Figure B shows how a real estate agent might preview a house to prospective buyers.

Figure C provides an example of a motor vehicle accident, where on-the-spot recording and reporting can provide a real-time view of the situation and a long-term, at-the-moment record for future litigation.

If you're suspicious of your partner, camera phones could help a private eye monitor a "straying partner" with instantaneous transmission. Of course, this application of on-the-spot camera phones, shown in Figure D, also strays dangerously into the terrain of privacy violation (or at least some pretty inappropriate behavior).

What property do you own? If you have a digital camera, you should definitely go around your house and augment your insurance records with photos of your posessions, as shown in Figure E.

A camera phone is a quick way to snap a picture of something new, without digging out the main camera. In fact, you can easily snap a picture of everything of value as you buy it, making a very powerful on-the-fly record of your posessions.

Got a furry little friend who shouldn't be there? Take a picture and send it to an appropriate service. An actual picture will help them prepare ahead of a formal inspection, as shown in Figure F.

Whether you're the contractor or the person needing repairs, a camera phone can help snap a quick picture as an aid for discussion and getting or giving a repair quote for a job.

If you're a farmer, a camera phone is a great tool for sending a picture of an animal's symptoms, as shown in Figure H, to a far-flung veterinarian, possibly short-circuiting an epidemic (and getting help for the animal sooner).

We're seeing more and more creative, positive applications of having a camera with you at all times. Here are a few more examples:

• Hairstyle previewing before the locks get shorn, dyed or permed
• Mobile blogs (MoBlogging)
• Design/layout approval direct from the meeting room
• Car-rage number plate reporting

All these besides the obvious snapping and sharing of the new boyfriend/girlfriend for peer approval or jealousy.

The ideas are endless and the innovativeness of the mass usage population will take the concept to areas we simply cannot imagine today. Will this result in the demise of the professional photographer (or gifted amateurs)? Not at all; having a camera doesn't make a photographer.

Using on-the-spot camera phones to capture our world in new and creative ways will give us lots of new ways to communicate, and hopefully we will begin to recruit more talented people to the domain from the growing ranks of these multitudes. Almost everyone has access to a pen or pencil, but great writers are too few. So, also, will the advent of digital cameras for (almost) everyone not result in the diminishing of the aura of great photographers like Minor White, Bill Brandt, Imogen Cunningham, Man Ray, Eugene Smith, Alfred Stieglitz, David Hamilton and Ansel Adams; but rather the induction of new names into their hall of fame.

And, if we don't see any great new camera photos, we're definitely going to see a whole lot of pictures of signs, cars, friends, and fun! Kind regards and compliments of the season.

Ian is the Web Transformation Director for a global software company and has been a serious photographer since the days he was a field zoologist in Africa, 20 years ago. His PhotoTechno Reflections column can be found at http://www.mcnairn.info.