S. Korea seeks ways to disable 'silent camera' apps

[unreal.livejournal.com]

South Korea is seeking ways to disable smartphone apps that allow users to silently snap photos in a bid to prevent Peeping Toms from secretly photographing women, an official said Wednesday.

Discussions are underway between authorities and handset makers, an official of the Korea Communications Commission told AFP.

"We have recently started discussions with firms like Samsung, LG, Google and Apple regarding whether it's technically possible to disable those apps on their devices," the official said on condition of anonymity.

The move comes amid privacy concerns after a series of crimes involving men secretly taking photos of women.

While there is already a regulation in place making it compulsory for mobile phones to make a sound when a photo is taken there is no such rule for app developers, meaning there are dozens of apps that provide a mute switch.

In June, a man in his 30s was arrested in the southeastern city of Gimhae for secretly taking about 500 pictures under women's skirts by using a "silent camera" app.

South Korea has nearly 25 million smartphone users in a total population of almost 50 million.

Source: thesundaily

Comments

[hillando.livejournal.com]

I have a Samsung smartphone, and there is no volume button for the camera sound. There's only volume control for calls/texts and media sounds, nothing for the camera shutter. It's really annoying, since the sound is ridiculously loud (as in, even in a noisy cafe you can hear me taking a picture).

I thought up till now that the only way to disable the sound is to hack the phone and switch it off there....but if it's possible to d/l an app, I might try that next.

[krissasaur]

"ridiculously loud" -- this too. it was almost embarrassing to take pictures with my friend whose camera was yelling shutter sounds cause everyone had to stop and stare at us. jdgkfjgkjsdfhkj

if you have android get camera360. its my favorite camera app *_* and it lets you mute.

[krissasaur]

when my korean friend came to visit me there was no way to mute her camera even if her phone was on silent. it was so fucking irritating.

i would go fucking insane if i couldn't mute it. i mean i get why they want to do it? but seriously... idk. and sometimes its rude to have sound on idk.and its annoying..... and with homebrew and shit even if they "ban them" ... well... if someone wants it they can get it.

[uledy.livejournal.com]

I honestly wish phones is the US made a sound when pictures are taken. There have been so many times on the train where I've seen men with their cameras "looking through their lenses" and I can't help but wonder if they're taking pictures of me or the people around me. It's seriously creepy. Or maybe I still haven't come to the realization that I'm not in Japan anymore and I don't have to be on such guard about that type of pervert...

[asnindie.livejournal.com]

Someone need to beat those pervs who take upskirt pics.

[10135.livejournal.com]

While I think getting rid of the apps will definitely cut down these incidents, it sucks that it has to mess up people who actually use the app for normal use. I love having my camera on silent when I go out, because the noises are super obnoxious, lol. I'm sure I'm no the only one like that. It's sad these creeps have to ruin it for others, but what they're doing is gross, so I approve.

[jasmineakaiumi.livejournal.com]

I've seen a man get around this by video taping me while I was on the subway |:
I hate the sound, whenever me and my friends want to selca it's so loud that everyone looks..

[say-o-kay.livejournal.com]

That's not really an efficient way to prevent the problem, there are so many ways around it. The sound is annoying as hell, normal people don't like hearing it either.