Lawmakers seek tougher liability for covert photo and video recording: smartphones may be required to keep camera sounds on
The problem of covert photography without a person's consent is increasingly becoming a subject of public discussion. It concerns not only illegal filming in public places but also the subsequent distribution of such photos on the internet without the person's permission.
Modern smartphones allow the camera shutter sound to be completely turned off, which, in the opinion of some, facilitates covert photo and video recording. In a number of countries, technical and legislative restrictions are already in place that do not allow disabling the camera shutter sound. Against this background, an electronic petition was submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine proposing to introduce similar rules for the Ukrainian market.
About protection against covert photography
The author proposes to introduce a state standard according to which smartphones officially imported into Ukraine should not have the ability to mute the shutter sound in the "Camera" app.
In his opinion, such a requirement will help counter covert photography of people without their consent.
As the author notes, back in the early 2000s, Japan and the Republic of Korea (South Korea) began producing smartphones for the domestic market in which it is impossible to turn off the camera shutter sound. Moreover, according to him, even using headphones does not allow taking a photo without an audible signal.
He claims that, in addition to agreements between manufacturers, these countries also have legislative requirements that do not allow the release of smartphones with the ability to disable or adjust the shutter sound volume.
According to the author of petition No. 41/010292-26ep, such restrictions were introduced due to widespread cases of covert photography of women under skirts. He notes that similar cases, unfortunately, also occur in Ukraine, and the obtained photos may be sold on illegal platforms.
"The state's priority should be the strict suppression of such markets, since our Constitution enshrines the right to security and life, and the synonym of a successful country is a safe country where a person, regardless of age and gender, feels comfortable," the initiative states.
The author also explains that one of the reasons for registering the petition was a conflict on the social network Threads, when, according to him, a mother photographed her ten-month-old child without the person's consent and shared the photo online after a dispute over a place on the lower shelf in a train.
In the author's opinion, such a situation also falls under the definition of secret photography and contradicts Article 307 of the Civil Code of Ukraine, which provides that a photo of a natural person may be distributed only with their consent.
Furthermore, he believes that such actions contradict Article 3 of the Constitution of Ukraine, according to which life, health, honour, and dignity of a person are the highest social values.
In this regard, the author asks the Cabinet of Ministers to treat the petition "with the utmost seriousness."
In particular, he proposes that the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine develop a regulation that would not allow the import for sale in Ukraine of devices with photo and video cameras if their software allows any way to mute or adjust the shutter sound.
The author also appeals to the Ministry of Internal Affairs with a request to initiate specific steps to strengthen liability for covert photo and video recording of a person without their consent and the subsequent distribution of such materials.
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