Several times I've had people get mad at me because they thought
I
was taking pictures of them with my camera phone without their
permission. Sometimes when I'm changing things on my phone, I
hold
it in such a way where it may appear that I'm taking pictures
rather
than just changing things.
No longer a problem with the Auto Camera Cover. Many digital
cameras and camcorders have these already. Basically it's a
motorized cover that, well, covers the lens whenever the camera
is
not in use. The cover is automatically opened when you turn on
the
camera on your phone, and then it closes again when you turn it
off.
The cover would be a bright color or just be white, or better yet
the
same color as the phone, so that it would be clear whether the
cover
was closed or not. This phone should be one of those that has a
larger, more obvious camera, but the cover will match the rest of
the phone.
This would also benefit in some places that may allow you to have
a
cell phone, but where no pictures are allowed. The employees
could
simply watch for open covers and take the phone, check for
"forbidden" pictures and erase them if found, and give it back if
they see anyone with the
camera phone's cover open.
Yes, the mechanics of the cover may add some bulk to the phone,
but I've seen pretty small digital cameras with mechanical lens
covers, so the phone could still be small enough to fit in your
pocket.
Of course, you could also just buy a phone that has no camera to
avoid such nuisances-but that defeats the purpose of this idea :D