Defense Secretary Rumsfeld bans camera phones at installations in Iraq?

U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has banned camera phones at military installations in Iraq, and orders banning camera phones from all military installations are being developed, according to an article posted on an Australian news portal operated by News Corp.

The article says the Defense Department thinks some of the photos taken at Abu Ghraib prison near Bagdad were from camera phones.

I put a question mark in the headline because the article is third hand. It is, apparently, from the news service Agence France-Presse quoting from a newspaper, The Business.

Camera phones available in Iraq?

Until I can find other sources or, at least, the original source, it's prudent to be skeptical. However, given the political environment and the security concerns about camera phones in general, it's certainly possible that this news report is accurate.

Camera phones are available in Middle Eastern countries, although Saudi Arabia has banned them, as I have previously written. I didn't know MMS or camera phone services were available in Iraq. I'd certainly like confirmation of this.

Perhaps the camera phones were purchased in another country.

In February I posted an article about the U.S. Air Force banning camera phones in restricted areas.

Agence France-Presse article

Here's the entire article published by news.com.au:

"Mobile phones fitted with digital cameras have been banned in US army installations in Iraq on orders from Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, The Business newspaper reported today.

"Quoting a Pentagon source, the paper said the US Defence Department believes that some of the damning photos of US soldiers abusing Iraqis at Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad were taken with camera phones.

"'Digital cameras, camcorders and cellphones with cameras have been prohibited in military compounds in Iraq,' it said, adding that a 'total ban throughout the US military' is in the works.

"Disturbing new photos of Iraqi prisoner abuse, which the US government had reportedly tried to keep hidden, were published on Friday in the Washington Post newspaper.

"The photos emerged along with details of testimony from inmates at Abu Ghraib who said they were sexually molested by female soldiers, beaten, sodomised and forced to eat food from toilets."

Any other sources about this?

If any of you have read other articles that confirm this, I'd certainly appreciate a link.

I believe camera phones should be banned from locations where there are legitimate security concerns, such as sensitive areas in military installations and in areas where corporations are designing new products. However, I also believe -- and have written -- that camera phones will be used to document abuses around the world.

Six months ago I used the term "suicide photographers" to describe ordinary citizens who will risk their lives using camera phones to instantaneously post photos and videos of abuses.

Camera phone security/privacy audiocast

The wireless industry hasn't done enough to highlight these issues. That's why I'm developing a 90-minute audiocast about camera phones, privacy and security. The audiocast will focus on a variety of important issues for cellular operators, corporations and cellular subscribers, and will be held on June 23.

I'm moderating and providing a general overview of the situation. Two other speakers include Emilio Cividanes, a partner in the Washington, D.C. law firm of Piper Rudnick, who is an expert in privacy, and Patrick Snow, the managing director of Iceberg Systems in the U.K., that has developed Safe Haven, a system for disabling camera phone functionality.

I expect at least one other speaker will be added. After the presentations, there will be time for listeners to ask questions.

Comments

[Håkon Styri]

Looks like at least some of the people on this list still are posting:
http://jhong.org/frontline.html

[Phototalk]

A search with a common search engine for newspapers came up with another report by the german "netzeitung.de" (http://www.netzeitung.de/spezial/irak/287688.html).
From what we understand - using a website translation engine - this article also refers to the article from the widely unknown newspaper "The Business".

[Phototalk]

BoingBoing has the complete story (Update):

"This morning, I asked a Defense Department spokesperson whether or not the reports of a phonecam ban were true. This spokesperson said that these reports were technically inaccurate -- that the Pentagon is not issuing a new ban on camera phones per se, but that a Directive 8100.2 was issued on April 14 establishing new restrictions on wireless telecommunications equipment in general."

http://www.boingboing.net/2004/05/23/camera_phones_in_ira.html

[mike]

I am here in Iraq and there have been no banning of cameras, videos or anything like that.

Mike

[Michael Tippett]

Likewise, we are still seeing images coming in.

http://www.blueherenow.com/blueherenow/now/archives/cat_iraq.php