Take out your cell phone and take a picture. If the sound is on, you may hear a shutter sound—something (if you’re old enough) reminiscent of the nondigital cameras of yesteryear. That sound is artificial, and likely included to bring the full camera-like experience to the digital world. With most phones, if you want to turn off the sound, you can. Apple’s iPhone 3G, for example, has no shutter sound if you put your phone in silent mode.
Except in Japan.
As the Apple-aficionado site Cult of Mac reported, the digital revolution led to a perverse de-evolution of proper public conduct among some Japanese. The new trend? “Upskirt” and “downblouse” photos of women, taken without their permission and often without their knowledge. To make this violation worse, the increasing popularity of social media means that a victim’s image could spread widely, potentially with enough context to identify the person depicted. The problem got so out of hand that most subway stations now have signs warning to “Watch out for upskirting.”
To help prevent this, the Japanese version of the iPhone 3G—and many subsequent models—kept the shutter sound even if a user set the phone to silent. While this wouldn’t stop the most brazen upskirt photogs, the hope was pretty clear. At the very least, it would draw attention to what they were doing.
So far, this requirement isn’t widespread outside Japan. However, in 2009, U.S. Congressman Peter King wanted to do the same thing in the United States, introducing a bill called the Camera Phone Predator Alert Act, which, if enacted, would “require mobile phones containing digital cameras to make a sound when a photograph is taken.” The bill did not receive support from any other legislators and never became law.
But even if the bill were to have become law, it wouldn’t have mattered much, if Japan is any indicator. Those intent on taking such photos surreptitiously have found workarounds. For phones running Google’s Android operating system, there are apps that, according to the Daily Mail, override the system settings and mute the shutter sound. There’s an even easier work-around—for most phones, using a headset pushes all noise to the ear buds, effectively muzzling the sound.
In August 2010, Boston police set up a sting operation to catch a man who was reported to be taking upskirt photos in the city’s subway system. The case made its way to the highest court in Massachusetts, which, on March 5, 2014, ruled that the man wasn’t guilty of anything—the law only pertains to photographs taken of subjects who are at least “partially nude.” The court ruled that “a female passenger [. . .] who is wearing a skirt, dress, or the like covering these parts of her body is not a person who is ‘partially nude,’ no matter what is or is not underneath the skirt by way of underwear or other clothing.” If you think that’s ridiculous, you’re not alone—the Massachusetts government passed a revised version of the law two days later.