Ban on camera phones?

rediff.com has this message board article on how some Telugu Desam party member in the Rajya Sabha moved a private member bill in the House... "She demanded a ban on camera phones in public places arguing that these phones are increasingly being used to pry into private lives of people. She also wanted the legislation to regulate the use of such phones by children."

(I don't like rediff insisting on having a rediff id to be able to post comments, but I can certainly post my comments on my own blog!)

Being the proud owner of just such a phone, this does affect me personally. But more than that, I am filled with a sense of disbelief. Hello! Lady! Doesn't something not make sense here? "Private lives" of people and ban on camera phones in "public places"? Does she want to ban non-cellphone cameras in public places too? Do I have to wear blinkers in case I have a freaking photographic memory? Will I be allowed to sit on the roadside and paint what I see, or will that offend your sense of privacy too?

I can understand that if someone puts a camera into your house without your knowledge and permission, then it can be categorized under invasion of privacy. But then why target cellphones? Any old camera would suffice.

rediff's questions:

Now, does Geetha have a point here?

Of course she does. But it's not what she thinks it is.

Do you think the use of these latest gizmos in public places is a threat to your privacy?

I don't have any reasonable expectation of privacy in a public place. So, no, nothing is a threat to my privacy in a public place.

Or are these merely fun tools as their manufacturers would want us to believe?

Fun tools? I don't know. I rarely use the phone camera, it's quality is simply not good enough to take pictures that I want to keep. I do use it for casual photos, if I see something interesting or unusual on the road or if I make an unplanned trip and don't have a proper camera with me. That said, I have seen models becoming more powerful by the day and have read about one that actually has an optical zoom lens in the cellphone. Go figure. But all said and done, all cameras are fun tools for all of us who are not professional photographers, whether they are inside a cellphone or not.

And, also, should they come with the statutory warning, "Keep out of reach of children"?

I don't really have any opinion on that. I would certainly think twice before I gave anything that costly into a child's hands, but of course my concerns are probably not the same as those of the author of the article. I would have LOVED to have something like that when I was a kid. But then, I didn't have any opportunities to invade anyone's privacy, so such a phone would have not been of much use to cause offence. I do think however, that children could perhaps be taught about such gadgets and the possible ways that phones can be used and abused.

Come to think about it, some adults in the Rajya Sabha might possibly benefit from such instruction too..

The DSL adventures continue

I decided to check out Airtel first, since I know people who have had experience with them and it seems to me that these folks are easy to deal with. I've heard stories of how things can go wrong with Airtel, but it all points to the fact that if they can provide a connection they will do it with minimum fuss, if they cannot there's nothing they can do about it.

Unfortunately the person at their customer care helpline said they don't have service in the area in which I live. He did take down my name and address but that's probably just to populate their database, I don't see any indications of them coming to my area in the near future.

Then I thought of the wireless telephone providers, Reliance and Tata Indicom. Problem with these folks is that the internet access speed is limited, and I have heard horror stories of billing problems - even though people now say that all those have been sorted out. Decided to keep these as my final option.

Then I turned towards BSNL. People have good things to say about their access speeds and uptime, and the cost is also reasonable, i.e. in line with other providers. I'm not too keen on their red tape though. Besides someone from my area expressed his doubts as to whether they have DSL service in my area, though they do have an exchange there. I filled out the online form at BSNL's site in any case, and I got a call from them a few days later - saying that I could go to a specific exchange for my connection or to any other exchange near me. That was on a Saturday. I decided I would go on Monday or Tuesday and as usual I didn't. On Tuesday I actually got a follow up call asking whether I was still interested and if yes I could go to the exchange and fill out the form.

In my opinion, this is the big difference between BSNL and the private players, even though BSNL is being proactive in pursuing a potential customer. Airtel would have sent a person over with the forms and the authority to collect a cheque.

I did rustle up enough enthusiasm to make a trip to the ATM (since I have had previous bad expriences with BSNL where they accept only a draft or cash and no cheques), and landed up at the exchange the next day. I walked up the stairs and spent some time wandering around trying to figure out where to go! There were no proper signs that would have helped a first timer, though I daresay there were some faded pieces of paper on various doors that might have had something written on them. I even wandered into a central excise office once. The counter where people are supposed to pay their bills was shutting down even though it was just around 3 in the afternoon. Finally after asking a few people (who in the traditional manner sent me to difference places) I finally found the right room. Asked another young guy sitting at a computer and listening to music, and got redirected to another person who sitting at a desk and being angry at some other customer. Another customer had some billing problem which was solved by sending him to someone else and it was finally my turn. I asked for a broadband form, I didn't think he would care about the fact that I had filled out the same form online earlier. He decided to get angry at me too, and said I should pay the amount first before I came to him. I said I wanted a form, and I had no idea how much I was to pay, so he grudgingly took out a form from his desk and told me the cash counter was closed and that I "should have come before 2:30". I took my form and escaped and am still wondering whether I should actually go back to submit it.

So here's the other big difference. The BSNL website says that they have customer help desks manned from 8 in the morning to 8 in the evening without any breaks. I don't know whether the person I met in that dark dingy room was such a customer service guy, but what's the use of having an 8 to 8 desk if I can't pay my initial fees after 2:30? What's with the afternoon deadline? Can't they have a drop box or something like Airtel does? Can't they have service people who are not gruff as soon as they see a customer? I was prepared to sit there, fill out the form(s), pay my money and come back hoping to get a telephone and a broadband connection in a few days.

That's another point I'm sure I will have a confrontation over. Do I need to fill out separate forms for the telephone and the broadband connection? The broadband form says that I should have a phone before I can apply for broadband. Fair enough. But then the form also has a column asking whether I am an existing BSNL customer. The online form that I filled initially also had a box for whether I want a new connection. I am printing out a telephone connection form and taking it along just in case, but I fully expect to be chewed out by the customer service guy for not having the common sense to apply for a telephone before I asked for broadband.

I only hope they accept printed forms (their website says they will). I've had an experience with HDFC bank when they refused to accept a printed form that I had downloaded from their own website.

More after my next visit to the exchange... phew.

New bike

Got me a new bike - a Bajaj Pulsar 180 DTSi ES. Running fine, as expected. But the run-in is too much, for the first 1000 kilometers I'm restricted to 65kmph.