Dick's Sporting Goods bans camera phones in some locations

UPDATE - August 17, 2004: Dick's Sporting Goods does not ban camera phones. The article I discussed below is incorrect. I sent an e-mail to the company's corporate headquarters to obtain further information about its camera phone ban and I received a response from the manager of investor relations and risk management who said Dick's Sporting Goods doesn't ban any cellular phones in the stores. I tried to determine whether the reporter misquoted an executive from Dick's or the executive was mistaken, but the investor relations manager wouldn't say.

A nationwide retailer of sports clothing and equipment, Dick's Sporting Goods, is banning camera phones in some locations to prevent customers from comparison shopping, according to an article in the Indianapolis Star.

The article says, "Dick's Sporting Goods, which opened several stores in to [sic] Indianapolis this year before acquiring Galyans, banned customers from using cell phones in some locations to avoid competitive price-checking."

The company hasn't considered forbidding its employees to bring in camera phones. Jeffrey R. Hennion, senior vice president for strategic planning at Dick's Sporting Goods is quoted in the article as saying, "There's nothing we've ever done pro or con on camera phones. I wouldn't even begin to know what we'd do."

Not enough information

That's all the information in the article, so there's not much to go on. Camera phone users arould the world are indeed using their handsets to record information, such as prices, when doing their own shopping and also when keeping an eye out for products that others might want.

Several months ago I had lunch with two executives from wireless software company Materna. I wrote that one of the executives told me he wanted to buy a new computer printer and used his camera phone to take photos of printers and prices.

In that entry I also wrote how someone used a camera phone to snap photos of leather coats on sale and send a photo to his girlfriend who was interested in buying a new coat.

Camera phones and price comparisons"

Camera phones certainly can aid people when shopping and there will be all sorts of applications, ranging from taking photos of products and prices as a way to remember what's available to using camera phones as barcode readers to obtain product information and purchase products.

Banning camera phones because customers will use them for comparing pricing isn't the answer. People have been comparison shopping as long as there have been shops.

There are many other ways to compare products, from tearing out advertisements in newspapers to writing information on a "primitive" piece of paper.

Camera phone applications/problems

Articles like the one in the Indianapolis Star highlight the confusion corporations are experiencing with camera phones. It's a new technology and corporations are trying to understand the implications.

Many corporations and retail stores already ban cameras and video recorders for competitive reasons as well as security concerns. The article, which is worth reading if you're interested in this issue, reports on corporations that are banning or considering banning camera phones.

The article is a good overview of the situation and includes recommendations for corporations and employees about camera phones.

Recommendations for corporations

The article includes recommendations by Michael Blickman of the law firm Ice Miller for corporations dealing with camera phones. The recommendations are:

"Adopt a policy that bans camera phones only where necessary, such as in areas of the workplace devoted to advanced research and development.

"Educate employees about the policy and explain the business reasons for it.

"Post the policy throughout the building so it applies not only to employees, but also to visitors.

"Ensure that confidential information is kept in a secure location to eliminate the opportunity for employees or outsiders to take photographs of it.

"Take appropriate disciplinary action, up to and including termination of the employee, if the policy is violated.

"Consider installing a camera-jamming device, which is an electronic means to disable a camera in a certain area."

Jamming camera phones

I know a fair amount of information about the last recommendation -- "installing a camera-jamming device" -- and it's important to be accurate. It is illegal in the United States to jam camera phones or any cellular phone for that matter.

However, it is probably legal to disable camera phone and video recording capabilities on a limited basis. Technology is available to disable camera phone functionality, but the technical, implementation and social problems aren't trival.

One company that offers camera phone-disabling technology is Safe Haven in Oxford, England, that I discussed almost a year ago.