Camera Phone Espionage

Have you ever tried to enter a court armed with a camera phone? If you have, chances are you were turned away or your camera phone was confiscated by security until you left the building. This is because some proceedings inside the courthouse may involve the sharing of information that is not intended for the general public and should not be secretly recorded.

The same should be the case for employees and visitors who have access to secure areas of your company. As camera phone technology improves year to year, and those little camera phones become more and more sophisticated, it is possible for someone to take pictures of sensitive material for use outside of your company. As companies spend more and more to develop new products, it is imperative to keep all new projects secret and to limit the potential for information leaks.To quickly curb the potential for "camera phone corporate espionage" (yes, I take this very seriously), you should consider implementing a camera phone policy for employees and visitors.

Some key points to consider are:

1. Implementing a general cell phone use policy for employees while at work.

2. If a cell phone policy is already in place, modify the policy to include provisions to restrict the use of camera phones on company grounds.

3. The camera phone policy should limit all uses of camera phones and should include provisions for punishment if an employee is caught abusing this policy.

4. The policy could limit use only to unrestricted areas.

5. When visitors are present on company grounds, require all visitors to turn off camera phones before entering secure areas (i.e., manufacturing areas, R&D laboratories, legal departments and upper management offices).

6. Consider adding provisions to confidentiality agreements that address the use of camera phones during on-site visits.In industries that are becoming more and more competitive, the potential for corporate espionage increases.

Now as technology improves dramatically year to year, it will be important to review and revise company policies to stay current. Proprietary information should remain tightly controlled, and therefore, even the use of camera phones should be considered a tool for sharing information outside the company. Thus, creating and implementing a camera phone policy today may help lower the risk of proprietary information falling into the hands of your main competitors and decrease the chances of camera phone corporate espionage.

Rodney D. Ryder