Negative Impact of Smartphone Cameras on Privacy
Yasuhisa Omura, IEEE Life Fellow (omuray@kansai-u.ac.jp)
As is well known, ethical behavior is a key goal for everyone working in the fields of science and technology. The most famous story is Einstein’s regret over the development of the atomic bomb because it was used in World War II. 70 years have passed since that unfortunate historical event. In the 21st century, we make all efforts to leverage the IoT world with its 5G technology, but new risks are emerging. Governments of most countries and many companies perceive the fact that IoT will become pervasive in people’s day to day lives and provide a competitive advantage. When people listen to the presentations on IoT and 5G technologies of companies, they are provided with primarily the positive results. However, various negative effects are arising in daily life, including phishing scams (spoofing mail), unlocking passwords (Bitcoin), and others.
In a parallel trend, the proliferation of portable image devices continues to skyrocket. This has been achieved through continuous advances in semiconductor device technology over the last 50 years. High definition image processing is now possible due to scaled semiconductor device technology and related software technologies. Basically, this is great for us because we can enjoy beautiful video service in theaters and at home. However, the misuse of these technologies by potential criminals must be considered as the resulting image data will remain accessible through website access or saved on various media, i.e. they must be considered to have permanent existence as it is impossible, in fact, to delete them from the Internet.
The reason why I state this stems from the far too many instances of prurient images being captured by miscreants such as peep photographs or videos (photos or videos of the private parts of females (adults and children)). In some cases, the victims and/or their families are threatened with public shaming in order to extort money from the victims. It is possible to punish the criminals, but the photographs and video data cannot be erased from the Internet. Therefore, in order to protect people from these moral hazards, the activation of portable device cameras should be prevented in specific places like elevators, escalators, and rest rooms in public spaces.
With a view to practical implementation, I would like to propose the following:
- Operation systems for smartphones and tablet PCs should be modified so that users cannot activate any smartphone or tablet PC cameras inside public areas of high risk such as the rest rooms and elevators/escalators at train stations, airports, shopping malls, and schools. In order to implement this function, specific Bluetooth wireless routers that can deactivate the cameras must be set in areas of high risk.
- Smartphone makers and tablet PC makers should welcome and facilitate the introduction of the above-mentioned OS modifications to secure enhanced public support.
- Telecommunication service carriers should welcome the introduction of the privacy-securing routers.
- When the smartphone and tablet PC are not connected to any network, the modified OS should prevent the activation of any smartphone or tablet PC camera.
I would like to appeal to the engineers working with Apple, Google, and all telecommunication service companies to renew your support of ethics in engineering. It is my hope to see the successful introduction of a comprehensive privacy-securing system for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Japan.