It is an amazing coincidence that India is simultaneously witnessing two high-profile cases involving the (mis)use of camera phones. I don’t need to spell it out explicitly that I’m referring to the DPS MMS case and the Shahid-Kareena kiss episode.

And I’m sure that this strange coincidence will precipitate an immediate ban on camera phones in places like schools, colleges, etc. And that is unfortunate!

I don’t say that I’m against banning camera phones in schools/colleges, but as trigger-happy as our government is, I don’t think it’ll be wrong to assume that pretty soon the only place you might be allowed to use a camera phone would be within the confines of your home! And THAT is unfortunate!

Already, Anna University has banned camera phones on campus! Sure as hell… other universities will promptly follow suit!

I find it silly that our first impulse is to ban outright.

I mean… how far will this go on? Today they’ve banned camera phones on campus. So anybody carrying a camera phone within the campus would be ‘punished’. But what about those tiny digital cameras that are very cheaply available in the market? Would they be banned too? But then that would mean banning digital cameras in general… coz how are you going to decide on what size to ban and what to allow?! And then what about things like USB keyring storage devices that include a small digital camera on them?! These devices can turn your ordinary phone into a camera phone! I’m just randomly picking devices! There are zillions of pieces of technological innovation that could be candidates for banning! Yet another example is that of a hi-tech pair of sunglasses that have a tiny digital camera fitted in them!

The point I’m trying to make is that technology is fast outstripping the bounds of imagination of most lay-people. And this is challenging their fixed notions of what privacy should be! Either we need to redefine privacy in this all-seeing age or we need to shut ourselves into a cocoon, completely shutting out the infinite possibilities that technology affords to us!

The powers-that-be seem to have chosen the easy path of blaming technology! What will YOU choose?!