On one hand, you could say that camera phones (mobile phones with in-built digital camera technology) don’t raise any new privacy issues – they raise the same issues as any small camera. Camera phones are simply an example of applying a new technology to an existing privacy problem : the problem of taking and publishing photographs without consent.

On the other hand, because of their dual use and the ubiquity of mobile phones in Australian society, camera phones may increase the likelihood of photography which is intrusive or otherwise an invasion of privacy.

A related problem is confidentiality. While privacy only protects individuals, an organisation may have secrecy or confidentiality concerns. Small and hidden cameras, whether or not included in a mobile phone, can be used to take images of documents, information, products or practices which are supposed to be confidential. Organisations which ban the use of camera phones inside their premises may be protecting their corporate secrets or confidentiality, as well as being concerned about the privacy of individuals. Confidentiality and secrecy are different concepts to privacy, and are not regulated by privacy laws. More information about what privacy is (and is not)>>


The law

There are no laws in NSW to specifically regulate camera phones. Because of the rapid speed at which new technologies develop, it is best for laws to be ‘technology neutral’.

Existing laws and remedies involve stalking / harassment laws, nuisance and trespass and the Crimes Act1900. Division 15B of the Act "Voyeurism and related offences" makes it an offence to observe or film for indecent purposes or to install a device to facilitate observing or filming for indecent purposes. "Filming" in this context includes the recording or transmission of still (photograph) or moving (video) images.

Privacy laws, which deal with the handling of personal information, don’t generally regulate the behaviour of individuals. (Find out how privacy laws regulate the behaviour of government and business organisations.)

However this gap in regulation has been reviewed by the NSW Law Reform Commission, which reported in February 2001. The Law Reform Commission recommended a comprehensive system of surveillance regulation, in which personal privacy should be the paramount concern. Click here to read the Law Reform Commission’s Report on Surveillance.

Privacy NSW strongly supported the Law Reform Commission’s recommendations, and has recommended that in the development of new laws, the proper balance needs to be struck between the public interest in the protection of individuals’ privacy on the one hand, and the public interest in law enforcement and public safety on the other. Click here to read our submission in response to the Law Reform Commission’s Report on Surveillance.


Complaints about breaches of privacy

Individuals who are concerned that their privacy has been invaded by the use of a camera phone to take and/or publish their photograph without consent may make a complaint to Privacy NSW. Click here for more information about making a privacy complaint.

If the photograph involved the person in a state of undress or engaged in a private act, and the photograph was taken for the purpose of sexual arousal or gratification, the person should instead make a complaint to NSW Police about the criminal offence covered by the Crimes Act 1900.

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