Cynics Unlimited

Whenever a new communication technology is introduced, it seems mankind can count on 3 general occurrences:

• The introduction of a dozen or new technical terms that allow second-tier techies to demonstrate how “smart” they are compared to the average population
• A flurry of reckless investment, followed shortly after by a flurry of hard-luck stories from investors who threw away millions on fly-by-night companies in hopes getting rich quickly
• An early adoption by the adult entertainment world - possibly the only industry that has managed to make a healthy profit using every medium it has ever experimented with

When it comes to cell phone internet technology, the latter point appears to be true once again. The New Scientist recently reported on a Google-commissioned study that concluded a whopping 20% of cell phone web searches involved sexually suggestive terms. By comparison, only 8.5% of desktop computer searches and 5% of PDA searches included “adult” terms.

But why would so many people want to search for rich content on a platform with such low bandwidth and tiny screens? RealTechNews’ Alice Hill suggests that privacy may be the main reason – unlike the family computer or the work PC, the cell phone can be easily secured, transported or obscured. Google adds that cell phones are considered highly personal items, which causes user comfort to increase when searching for illicit material.

However, are cell phone users being lulled into a false sense of security? What happens if a cell phone containing “sensitive” material is stolen and its contents put on display for people other than the intended audience? This is precisely what happened to a 17 year-old student at Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) in Singapore. The student, known only as Tammy, used her cell phone to film a 10 minute Paris Hilton – style sex tape featuring herself and a man she met through an online gaming server. The cell phone was later stolen and the videos ended up on the Internet (where else?).

This sort of privacy infringement would have caused at most a mild buzz among North Americans, who have been inundated with “teen sex” websites and videos for years (even extended media hype couldn’t keep Paris Hilton’s cell phone photos in the public mind for more than a few days). However in ultra-conservative Singapore –where it is illegal to possess, distribute or import pornography- the elusive Tammy NYP sex video has created a frenzy of curious Singaporean web surfers looking to download the illicit video. Naturally, bloggers tore into the topic, starting with a report by prolific Singaporean blogger Xialanxue (who has since deleted her website). Tammy and NYP related terms have remained at the top of Technorati’s search terms for several days. DVD and VCD videos of the tape are available for sale in Malaysia.

Luckily for Tammy, it is not illegal for consenting adults to create sexually explicit videos for private viewing. However, her reputation is in tatters and as of writing this post, NYP is still considering her dismissal. This is a fairly heavy price for a young student to pay, but imagine the fallout if she were a prominent politician or high-priced lawyer…

The bottom line is that cell phones are not nearly as secure as people may think: losing a cell phone is far more likely than losing a desktop computer, while bypassing password protection of any kind is often a trivial exercise for dedicated hackers. Cell phone smut surfers would be well advised to take strong precautions when creating or viewing sensitive material.