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U.K. fears camera phones’ use by pedophiles
MSNBC ^ | June 19, 2003 | Jennifer Carlile

Posted on 06/19/2003 12:12:03 PM PDT by Nachum

LONDON, June 19 — Advances in cellphone technology have spurred an insidious new threat — the use of the increasingly popular camera phones by pedophiles to photograph children. Across Britain, swimming pools and sports facilities have cracked down on their use while the YMCA in the Australian state of Victoria has also imposed a ban. Officials have yet to raise a clamor in the United States, where the devices have only recently become widely available.

U.K. PARENTS AND child protection agencies say they worry that pedophiles will use the state-of-the-art camera phones to surreptitiously photograph children in changing rooms, instantly mailing the pictures around the world or posting them on pornographic websites. Britain’s Home Office, the country’s main policing body, joined recreation and child protection agencies recently issued a guidance statement warning of the potential risks involved with the new technology.
Sport facilities across the country have since addressed the issue and many have decided to put up signs alerting the public that camera phones are banned on their premises.
“There was an incident in one center. No-one had realized the potential threat (of camera phones) before, but the huge potential from the one incident alerted us to what could be a significant problem,” said Ralph Riley, director of the privately run Institute of Sport and Recreation Management.

(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: camera; fears; homosexuals; itsjustsex; littlebrotherseyes; lurkinginlockerrooms; pedophiles; phones; samesexdisorder; uk; voyeurism
The brave new world...
1 posted on 06/19/2003 12:12:03 PM PDT by Nachum
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To: Nachum
My digital camera can do the same thing (almost). I wonder when that will be banned.
2 posted on 06/19/2003 12:19:35 PM PDT by Larry Lucido
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To: Larry Lucido
Your camera can mail to the web immediately? I need to download my pictures. Isn't the size of a camera phone a bit smaller and, therefore, easier to hide? But you are right, there is no need for a camera being used in a locker room.

Evil people will always find evil uses for otherwise useful things.

3 posted on 06/19/2003 12:34:23 PM PDT by Ruth A.
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To: Nachum
Everything has an evil use, to those who think along those lines.
4 posted on 06/19/2003 12:49:23 PM PDT by D.P.Roberts
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To: Nachum
Cameras are only to get smaller and smaller. Eventually, a normal looking pair of eyeglasses will contain a camera that you cannot see and double as a mobile phone. Somewhere in the not too distant future, gnat and mosquito sized cams will be everywhere.

I don't see how in the end you could ever hope to ban all these devices or prohibit their use although I agree there ought to be some places where human dignity and privacy is respected.

It's not the camera's fault the evil use some people put it to.

5 posted on 06/19/2003 1:28:12 PM PDT by Prodigal Son
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To: Nachum
Those voyeurs who would photograph kids in the locker rooms are already in the locker rooms yet nothing is done to prohibit their presence. Sure "take a picture and it'll last longer" maybe true but the threat is already present even without any electronic devices.

The same holds true for members of the same sex who would photograph adults. We've been told that there is nothing to fear, that homosexuals aren't attracted to heterosexuals.

6 posted on 06/19/2003 3:17:34 PM PDT by weegee (NO BLOOD FOR RATINGS: CNN let human beings be tortured and killed to keep their Baghdad bureau open)
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To: Nachum
It's fear-mongering like this that expands government power.
7 posted on 06/19/2003 4:25:43 PM PDT by Squawk 8888 (Everyone knows you can't have a successful conspiracy without a Rockefeller)
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To: Nachum
Pedophiles ruin everything.
8 posted on 06/19/2003 4:26:08 PM PDT by CaptainJustice (Dangerous Jesus Lover)
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To: Nachum
It's not the pedophiles that they're afraid of - it's getting "discreet" conversations broadcast live over the Internet. Those camera phones can just as easily be used by civilians as by police, and provide a potential menace to the government through forcing greater transparency in the operation of the State.
9 posted on 06/19/2003 5:16:40 PM PDT by FierceDraka ("I am not a number - I am a FREE MAN!")
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To: FierceDraka
Your post has been noted. You will be hearing from a man in black shortly.
10 posted on 06/19/2003 5:27:45 PM PDT by LibertarianInExile (Tinfoil alert!)
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