TECHNOLOGY Privacy, security concerns lead to camera phone bans

A cell phone representative called the ban a 'knee-jerk reaction.'
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- From health clubs to strip clubs, businesses are increasingly banning or regulating camera phones because of concerns they could be used to take pictures of the nude or scantily clad.
And fears of corporate espionage have led Samsung Electronics, a leading Korean cell phone maker, to ban their use in its semiconductor and research facilities.
Employees and visitors must stick tape over the handset's camera lens.
YMCA of the USA, based in Chicago, which supports 2,540 independent YMCA branches throughout the country, recommended banning camera phones in June, noting they "may be used by members for inappropriate purposes."
Likewise, Bally Total Fitness clubs said camera phone use is prohibited.
Arnie Collins, a YMCA spokesman, said he's heard concerns from branches about potential abuses, but no problems.
Prohibited in strip clubs
Don Waitt, publisher of Exotic Dancer Club Bulletin, a Clearwater, Fla., magazine for the adult club industry, said he's written about the issue, and though he's sure people have taken surreptitious photos, there's no way to tell how significant a problem it has been.
"I would say most adult nightclub owners are aware of these phones with the cameras so they're requesting people to leave them in their car," Waitt said.
David Witz, a spokesman at Delilah's, a Philadelphia strip club, said cameras haven't been allowed since it opened 12 years ago -- and that goes for camera phones, too.
"These are cameras in a different guise," Witz said.
The club has a list with pictures of current camera phones, and patrons must check them before entering, he said. "To our knowledge, no one's ever snuck one in."
Industry reaction
With few cases of abuse reported, some wonder whether concerns are overblown.
"The instances where we have heard of camera phones being abused are few and far between," said Travis Larson, a spokesman for the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association, which represents the cell phone industry.
"These cameras were made for snapping family photos and interesting spur-of-the moment pictures and for general entertainment. Certainly, the industry had no nefarious purposes in mind when combining cameras and phones," Larson said. "Anywhere the use of a camera is inappropriate, the use of a camera phone is inappropriate."
"I think that there is an immediate knee-jerk reaction where people say, 'Oh my, this is terrible. We better ban it' -- because they don't think of what else to do," said Alan Reiter, a wireless consultant in Chevy Chase, Md., who favors education instead.
Shortcomings of ban
Banning camera phones might stop a casual or opportunistic voyeur, he said, but not someone determined.
"If you really want to take a clandestine photo, you can order cameras from spy shops. You can get them in clocks, pens, in eyeglasses. This is not going to stop someone who is determined to commit industrial espionage" or to take photos of people in various stages of undress, Reiter said.
"Corporations and government organizations that have legitimate security fears have been banning cameras for years," he said. "This is just one more device."
Camera phones also have numerous benefits, he said: A real estate agent can e-mail a client photos of a hot property before the property is listed.
A construction worker could send a supervisor a photo of say, a crack in a foundation, instead of just describing it, perhaps saving a trip.
Analysts say camera phones are probably here to stay.
Alex Slawsby, an analyst who covers mobile devices for IDC, a Framingham, Mass., research firm, said about 6 million camera phones have been sold so far, accounting for about 8 percent of the market. That's expected to nearly double next year to more than 11 million phones and continue to grow, he said.
"We would expect that over the next several years, a camera will simply become like a screen -- it will be standard," Slawsby said.