Bill Would Ban Silent Camera Phones

Fears of child exploitation have spawned a bill that would legally mandate all cell phone cameras to make a shutter noise when taking pictures.

When cell phones aren’t being used by terrorists to remotely detonate bombs, by school kids to cheat on exams, and by careless drivers as distractions that cause accidents, Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.) apparently believes they’re being used by predators to take pictures of your children. The Congressman sponsored a bill earlier this month that would make a “shutter” sound on camera phones mandatory.

The bill, known as the Camera Phone Predator Alert Act, would require all cell phones manufactured a year after the date it passes to produce an audible click  “within a reasonable radius of the phone whenever a photograph is taken.” Unlike existing phones, which make sound alerts optional, users would not be able to disable them, and the government would enforce the rule as a consumer product safety standard

According to the bill, silent camera phones have enabled child predators to discretely snap inappropriate photos of youngsters. “Congress finds that children and adolescents have been exploited by photographs taken in dressing rooms and public places with the use of a camera phone,” the draft reads.

Currently, the bill has only been assigned to a house subcommittee since it was introduced on Jan. 9, with no further progress being made. If past bills are any indication, the Camera Phone Predator Alert Act won’t make it far. Rep. King introduced a similar bill, H.R.3488, back in September 2007, which stagnated shortly after.