Camera phone makers obliged to install audible warnings on handsets to preserve privacy.
To combat the sharing of illicit camera-phone photographs across the internet, South-Korean mobile phone manufacturers are now legally obliged to fit their handsets with audible warnings whenever a photo is taken.
The requirement was issued by the Ministry of Information and Communication, and stipulates that the alarm should be 65 decibels, which should be clearly audible to any potential subject of a photograph. The Ministry expressed its concern that the ubiquity of camera phones and high-speed wireless internet access could have dangerous implications for privacy.
Similar concerns have also been expressed in several countries in the Asia Pacific region, as well as in Europe and North America due to the increasing proliferance of camera-equipped handsets.
Affected phones will include those from Samsung and LG, which together make up a sizeable proportion of the growing camera-phone market. Market Research firm IDC expect up to 100 million camera phones will ship in 2004.
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