Your second paper is due along with this assignment no later than Friday at 11:59pm

Smile—Someone Is Taking Your Picture—Friend or Foe?

Cell phones have become as necessary today as electricity. They are small, affordable, and designed to fit everyone’s needs. The latest technology in cell phones is the ability to take pictures. Major cellular companies like Nokia, Samsung and Sanyo observed how popular digital cameras were becoming, and decided to integrate it with one device most Americans find a necessity and not a luxury; the cell phone. As soon as the phones hit the market, stores sold out of the phone. In 2002, an estimated 16 million were sold worldwide and 5 million of these were in the United States (Strategy Analytics). Today in 2004, many cell phones come with this picture-taking option. The question that arises is whether or not these picture-taking cell phones have more problems associated with them than benefits. The purpose of this essay is to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of these new picture taking cell phones.

The advantages in having a cell phone that takes pictures are many. Family fun takes on an added dimension. Never again do you have to say, “Oh, I wish I had had my camera.” Having a cell phone that takes pictures can bring families closer together. You can take pictures of your new home, new pet, new girlfriend, possible new girlfriend, new car, etc. You can save these pictures, and then when you travel to visit family members who live 500 miles away, you can show them your pictures.

Picture-taking cell phones also have benefits for business professionals. Pictures of the most important pages of reports can be made quickly. Business men can take pictures of new clients and new business associates. The old saying, “I’m not good at names, but I never forget a face,” becomes obsolete. With the press of a button, a business man can memorize a name with a face. Business espionage will also become a problem, where spying on a competitor can be made easy by the surreptitious use of a camera cell-phone.

The world can become a safer place. Picture-taking cell phones can help police capture criminals. While in the act of committing a crime, criminals can be photographed without being noticed (www.notbored.org). Espionage services can find many clandestine ways to use camera cell-phones. New cell phones have either or both GPS (Global Positioning System transponders) and RFID (Radio Frequency Identification transponders), allowing government and others the ability to track the location of a cell phone user. The IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) have shown that terrorists can be targeted by using this position locating capability. When they call a terrorist, and he answers, they have been able to target them from helicopters with missiles for assassinations.

While there are many advantages to having a cell phone that takes pictures, there are also many disadvantages. In 2002, the Josephson Institute of Ethics took a survey of 12,000 high-school students and found that 74 percent of the students said they had cheated on an exam at least once (McCabe). How did they do this? They used their cell phones to instant message questions and answers and to store notes. With picture taking capabilities, students can photograph the test questions for other students or take pictures of answers in their texts or of other students answers (KansasCity.com).

Consumer fraud by camera cell-phone is an up and coming problem. In a store at a checkout counter, when you hand your credit card to the cashier, an unscrupulous individual can take a snapshot of your card and get your name, credit card number and expiration date. With this information, credit card fraud can be easy. It is inevitable that such abuse will become rampant (WBALChannel.com).

Clandestine pictures of individuals in compromising and embarrassing situations, such as in bathrooms, locker rooms, or other public areas can be a problem of immense destructive power (www.notbored.com). Many schools and athletic clubs have outlawed the use of camera cell-phones. Child pornography such as that of a mother changing her baby in a public bathroom can cause great damage to the mother and child's family. As the camera cell-phone is able to forward the picture to a computer at a remote location, evidence can be inaccessible for prosecution, even though the picture is available to the pornographer.

Computer logon by password will become obsolete as biometric identity verification can be achieved with the camera cell-phone (www.notbored.org). If a thief steals your phone and the way to sign on the service is through iris print or facial match, then the thief will not be able to benefit from his theft. Also, with the tracking ability of the phone, law enforcement personnel will be able to find the location of the thief and execute and arrest.

Conclusion:

The camera cell-phone will become one of the most popular consumer items in the near future. Its benefits are many, while its risks are also many. In this paper I have attempted to show the many ways in which the camera cell-phone can and will be used. My next cell phone will be a camera cell-phone, and I am looking forward to it.

One of the more interesting future uses is as a videoconferencing tool. The old webcam technologies will be made obsolete by the use of these wonderful new devices.

Steve Gillmor reports, “Current bandwidth limitations are the only thing holding phones back from being videoconferencing end points.”

WORKS CITED

(1)Suzukamo, Leslie Brooks. “Hi, Mom: Look At Me” Ctnow: Technology

March 2, 2003 http://www.ctnow.com/technology/hc-camphones.artfeb,27,0,5168365

(2) Batista, Elisa. “New Privacy Menace: Cell Phones?” WiredNews

March 3, 2003 http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,57692,00.html

(3) Lacey, Eugene. “Smile! You’ve just been caught out on camera phone” ZDNet UK

February 28, 2003 http://comment.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t527-s2122702-pl,00.html

(4) “STRATEGY ANALYTICS: 10 MILLION CELLULAR CAMERA PHONES SOLD WORLDWIDE THROUGH Q3 2002”

March 3, 2003 http://www.strategyanalytics.com/press/PR00026.htm

(5) Greenspan, Robin. “The digital imaging big picture” Cyberatlas Hardware

March 2, 2003 http://cyberatlas.internet.com/big_picture/hardware/article/0,,5921_1546341,00.html