Gym members sweat over camera phones
By David Usborne in New York
16 December 2003
Sports clubs in the United States are scrambling to impose a new rule on their members: no mobile phones on the premises, or at least nowhere beyond the lobby. But it is not the disturbance of people receiving calls while on the treadmills that is worrying these gyms, tiresome though that may be. It is the menace of those tiny little shutters.
A new breed of cellphone has captured the imagination of consumers in the US this year. And they make they make a popular Christmas gift. These are the phones with almost invisible cameras built into them, perfect for taking snaps of a partner or pet and sending them instantly to your parents back home.
But their introduction in 2002 - about 80 million of them have already been sold around the world - has prompted a gathering debate about how they might be misused for nefarious purposes.
So discreet are these cameras, it is possible to take a shot of almost anyone, anywhere and any time, without them knowing.
Hence the concern of sports clubs, who quickly recognised the peril of these phones when it comes to the unclothed areas of their locker rooms. Images of naked fellow members can instantly be captured and transmitted over the airwaves to almost anywhere, including internet pornography sites.
Now, the US Congress is being asked to consider new legislation to curb the use of the camera phones. But any new law will be a long time coming. So many gyms have already acted already. The Sports Club/LA chain of gyms acted to ban all kinds of cell phones in July. And the Washington DC headquarters of the YMCA recently advised all of its branches to take similar action.
"The evolution, the penetration, the spread of digital capture capabilities in phones is going to be so fast, so wide that it might be a losing battle ultimately," said analyst Alex Slawsby of IDC, a leading technology industry analysis firm.
It is a conundrum for lawmakers as they try to square privacy concerns with the rights of Americans to carry mobile phones wherever they wish. But the issue is about to become even more pressing: By next Christmas, expect to see phones capable of capturing and transmitting live video just as quickly.
By David Usborne in New York
16 December 2003
Sports clubs in the United States are scrambling to impose a new rule on their members: no mobile phones on the premises, or at least nowhere beyond the lobby. But it is not the disturbance of people receiving calls while on the treadmills that is worrying these gyms, tiresome though that may be. It is the menace of those tiny little shutters.
A new breed of cellphone has captured the imagination of consumers in the US this year. And they make they make a popular Christmas gift. These are the phones with almost invisible cameras built into them, perfect for taking snaps of a partner or pet and sending them instantly to your parents back home.
But their introduction in 2002 - about 80 million of them have already been sold around the world - has prompted a gathering debate about how they might be misused for nefarious purposes.
So discreet are these cameras, it is possible to take a shot of almost anyone, anywhere and any time, without them knowing.
Hence the concern of sports clubs, who quickly recognised the peril of these phones when it comes to the unclothed areas of their locker rooms. Images of naked fellow members can instantly be captured and transmitted over the airwaves to almost anywhere, including internet pornography sites.
Now, the US Congress is being asked to consider new legislation to curb the use of the camera phones. But any new law will be a long time coming. So many gyms have already acted already. The Sports Club/LA chain of gyms acted to ban all kinds of cell phones in July. And the Washington DC headquarters of the YMCA recently advised all of its branches to take similar action.
"The evolution, the penetration, the spread of digital capture capabilities in phones is going to be so fast, so wide that it might be a losing battle ultimately," said analyst Alex Slawsby of IDC, a leading technology industry analysis firm.
It is a conundrum for lawmakers as they try to square privacy concerns with the rights of Americans to carry mobile phones wherever they wish. But the issue is about to become even more pressing: By next Christmas, expect to see phones capable of capturing and transmitting live video just as quickly.
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