OXFORD, United Kingdom-With analysts forecasting significant growth in the uptake of camera phones, governments around the world are becoming increasingly concerned by the capabilities of these devices to invade people’s privacy and decency. The pioneering third-generation (3G) operator ‘3’ claims to have recognized the potential for misuse of its video phones and has collaborated with the U.K. government to establish a child protection policy ahead of its full commercial launch.
An executive of 3 said video streaming services are already reported to have caused problems with pedophiles in Japan, and multimedia messaging service (MMS) phones have been banned in some Middle Eastern countries, along with at public swimming pools, gyms and schools in Europe. However, the company said that streamed video calls would be available at launch, as against streamed video content, which it claimed users had not wanted when surveyed recently.
Sales of MMS-capable handsets are said to be outpacing personal digital assistant (PDA) and smart-phone shipments by a considerable factor. The market research firm Strategy Analytics stated that more than 18 million picture messaging phones were sold last year, the majority in the Far East, with Europe seeing only 1.3 million and the United States a minuscule 230,000. However, European operators are thought to be providing subsidies of up to 500 euro (US$542) per handset during 2003, which should provoke rapid uptake.
