Privacy in the age of technology
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?!
3 comments
The idea of banning camera phones just because of this scandal is really silly. I don’t know the exact details, but I guess it would be pretty logical to assume that the DPS kid who created the MMS clip did so in his home. If that indeed is the case then banning these phones in schools etc. will not accomplish much. However these phones could be abused(e.g. in an examination hall etc.). I assume that these are already banned at the time of major public exams like SSC, HSC etc.
Going back to the issue of the MMS clip, the main reason why this got out of hand was probably because the girl did not know what her legal rights were. Even if she consented to it was she fully aware of the implications of being in a film clip picturing her in distasteful positions? We can only conjecture at this point since the girl has already left the country and her parents are not going to pursue a case agains the boy(At least that’s what I read on the websites).
I don’t know much about the Shahid-Kareena case, but we have seen here in the west that many celebrities would do anything to get coverage in the media.
Forget vidoe phones, I find mobile phones so all -pervading that I wonder how people ever managed without them! What I find irritating and intrusive is that people find it perfectly normal to call you on your mobile at all times, irrespective of day / night… but no, banning mobile phones is not the solution, where all can you ban them from?
Strongbow >> There is definitely merit in banning the use of mobile phones themselves inside the classes in schools/colleges… just because there is no place for phones while a class is going on. But banning them on the campus is overdoing it a bit. As you said, it’s a silly idea!
Actually, the MMS clip was shot secretly without the knowledge of the girl. Or at least I guess so. Even in case she did consent, it still is a crime because the two individuals involved in the act were not adults. About the Shahid Kareena episode, I have no sympathy for the what Kareena says… if it was indeed the two of them in that clip!
Charu >> That’s the way technology progresses. We were doing quite alright without even phones (landlines) and yet now they are indispensible! That can’t be helped! About people calling up at odd hours… I guess the cellphones give us the freedom of either turning off the phones at such hours or ignoring calls completely! :)
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