An End to Stealthy Phone Cameras? The Camera Phone Predator Alert Act
BAN THE SILENT CAMERA PHONE?
A new bill introduced to the House of Representatives earlier this month is already attracting some criticism and attention. The Camera Phone Predator Act (H.R. 414) is a new bill requiring any cell phone with a digital camera feature to sound a “click” or “tone” when a photograph is taken. Yes, that is right, MANDATORY CLICKING. In reading the draft of this bill it will also mandate that cell phones with a digital camera will no longer have the option to disable the “click” or “tone”.
The sponsor of the bill is Representative Peter King (R-N.Y.). In the draft of the bill he states “Congress finds that children and adolescents have been exploited by photographs taken in dressing rooms and public places with the use of a camera phone”. The reasoning behind the bill, according to Rep. Peter King is to assist in the deterrence of sexual predators that use cell phone cameras to take offensive pictures i.e. photos of young girls.
Rep. Peter King states “An audible tone can at least help warn people that they’re being surreptitiously photographed. Is it foolproof? No. But it is an extra layer of protection, that warning signal.”
On January 9, 2009, the bill was sent to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce for review. There are currently no co-sponsors of the bill. If the bill is passed the new “clicking” requirement will be enforced by the Consumer Product and Safety Commission (CPSC).
I wonder how this law will actually be enforced and is it really worthwhile? What do you think?
The following is the text of the short bill. You can also find it at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:h.r.00414:
Camera Phone Predator Alert Act (Introduced in House)
HR 414 IH
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 414
To require mobile phones containing digital cameras to make a sound when a photograph is taken.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 9, 2009
Mr. KING of New York introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
A BILL
To require mobile phones containing digital cameras to make a sound when a photograph is taken.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Camera Phone Predator Alert Act’.
SEC. 2. FINDING.
Congress finds that children and adolescents have been exploited by photographs taken in dressing rooms and public places with the use of a camera phone.
SEC. 3. AUDIBLE SOUND STANDARD.
(a) Requirement- Beginning 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, any mobile phone containing a digital camera that is manufactured for sale in the United States shall sound a tone or other sound audible within a reasonable radius of the phone whenever a photograph is taken with the camera in such phone. A mobile phone manufactured after such date shall not be equipped with a means of disabling or silencing such tone or sound.
(b) Enforcement by Consumer Product Safety Commission- The requirement in subsection (a) shall be treated as a consumer product safety standard promulgated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission under section 7 of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2056). A violation of subsection (a) shall be enforced by the Commission under section 19 of such Act (15 U.S.C. 2068).
Category: Legislation
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I was on assignment once with my lead investigator and we had to obtain photos of infidelity for our client. The venue was a public rock concert. We could not take our cameras into the concert, but we had cell phone cameras to obtain the photos. As investigators, undercover, our cover would have been blown with the constant “clicking” of our camera.
Stephanie Mitchell
CompassPoint Investigations
I feel with the number of other cameras at our disposal, this bill would not significantly affect our ability to conduct investigations. Rather I believe that it would make it slightly more intrusive for the general public to take photos they probably shouldn’t be taking in the first place. The wide variety of clandestine cameras and video equipment available to our profession would not be affected.
In situations where you must use your phone to take pictures, and the phone must make a noise, I’d suggest purchasing a cheap pay-as-you-go phone expressly for that purpose. Some are made nowadays with digital cameras. In this way, you can make the speaker inoperable, and take as many pictures as you like.
In the scenario that Stephanie mentioned, there is plenty of equipment available that would enable an investigator to capture photos w/out using a cellular phone cam, that would easily get past security at an event of this nature. Furthermore, if you were at a rock concert, I doubt the clicking of the camera phone would have “blown your cover” since the atmosphere is far from that of a library.
I am all for this legislation and protecting our children from the creeps who use their cellphones for sexually deviant purposes.
I am a PI and yes like other PIs we use the cell phone camera to capture events for a court presentation—against bad people.
Yes, but how do you prevent someone taking VIDEO?