Hello Phone Cams, Goodbye Privacy

Anyone With A Cell Phone Camera Can Post Snapshots On The Web

(CBS)  You wouldn't believe the things shutterbug Gary Dann finds interesting.

Armed with a camera phone, the 23-year-old Philadelphia resident can take a picture of whomever he wants, whenever he wants.

Dann is constantly clicking and snapping photos wherever he goes, to record his daily goings on.

"Here's you guys. You guys are going to be on the Web within seconds," Dann tells some recent photo subjects.

Though many complain the pictures are often far less than flattering, the biggest concern among photo subjects is that people like Dann -— and perhaps countless other "pocket paparazzi" like him -— could become a threat to privacy, reports CBS News Correspondent Richard Schlesinger.

Technology now allows snapshots of almost anybody anywhere to be posted on the Web and viewed across the world within seconds.

Ads for camera phones playfully point out that anyone can be a "junior James Bond."

Dann insists he hasn't embarrassed many people.

"I keep a life journey of every day of my precious moments," he says.

But, he publishes each and every one of those "precious moments" on his Web site.

"He has a right to document his life, in my opinion, but he doesn't have a right to document other people's lives unless they want him to," says University of Pennsylvania professor Joseph Turow.

The new camera phones are so small and easy to use that Turow says they may make it too easy for people to spy on one another.

"Private detectives and jerks have always done this type of thing," says Turow. "But this is just a new toy that can be placed in the hands of virtually everybody."

Some health clubs have already banned the cell phones because they were used inappropriately. In Japan, for example, camera phones have been used to take pictures up women's dresses.

Magazine stores report people are taking pictures of pages so readers won't have to buy them.

Camera phones have even been banned at the corporate headquarters of Samsung -— a company that makes them —- for corporate security reasons.

But on the flipside, the new technology can also enhance security.

In Clifton, N.J., a 15-year-old boy snapped some pictures when a man tried to lure him into his car. Police later identified the man and made an arrest, thanks to the camera phone.

Capt. Robert Rowan says he'd never heard of a camera phone before the incident involving the New Jersey teen, but now he's thinking about buying one.

"It was the first time I ever heard of it, actually," said Rowan, adding. "But, I'm thinking about getting one myself."

So far, about 18 million people around the world have purchased camera phones, and it's leaving some longing for the good old days when phones allowed people to be heard and not seen.