Korea Requires Camera Phone To Add Shutter Sound

from the click-click dept

They’re not the only ones, but the latest to jump on the “shutter noise” solution to the “camera phone problem” is South Korea. Starting next year, they’re going to require new camera phones to include a loud clicking sound when someone takes a picture, mimicking an analog camera. The only purpose for such a noise, of course, is to alert people around you that you’re taking a picture. In some ways, this seems silly, and down the road people will look back on this and find it an amusing historical example of people over reacting to new technology.


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Comments on “Korea Requires Camera Phone To Add Shutter Sound”

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8 Comments
Anonymous Coward says:

People want to know

The fact is, people want to know if any kind of surveillance is being done on them. With all of the posts on speed cameras nabbing drivers, it should be clear – some people do not like having pictures taken of them. The noise of a shutter allows the subject of the photo to object. This is a mechanism of social feedback. That having been said, I turn off the shutter noise when I am taking photos of the cats, who will scurry away at the beep, but not the flash.

data64 says:

Re: People want to know

The question is “Why does this apply only to Camara phones ?” Digital cameras have been around for ages and what exactly is it that you can do (with regards to picture taking) with a camera phone that you cannot with a digital camera.
Would this law also apply if I got a camera accessory and a phone addon for my PDA ?

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