What do you get when you combine a hi-resolution camera phone, a high power LED flash, GPS, and rapid cell phone upload capability? A powerful weapon in the hands of average people to combat violent crime, and it's about to change our society for the better.

Here's a scenario which although relatively rare, leads to a great deal of fear and anxiety for many people, and in fact happens far too often.

Imagine a woman walking home from her friends place late one night when she notices someone following her and behaving suspiciously. She crosses the street, the stranger crosses the street. She speeds up, the stranger speeds up. Then come the words, "Hey, where you heading? I just want to talk to you for a second.". Coming from a stranger at 1:00 am on an empty and poorly lit side street, what does she do? She looks behind her and they are 10 steps away and walking purposefully towards her. She can't make out many details of their shadowed face or clothing, except that they look like a hundred other people she's seen that day....and there's still no one else around besides her and him.

Now she knows what to do. She pulls her hand out of her pocket with her cell phone in it, then points and shoots. A flash and one second later a high quality photo with the time and location has been sent to hers and her friends e-mail accounts, and the stranger with bad judgment knows it.
He's on his way after saying he thought she were some one else, and she's on her way too. After all, if anything did happen to her, the police would have a picture of their number one suspect with a location and date stamp on it, and he can't do anything about it. Wrestling her cell phone away is pointless, the picture was completely delivered to email or wireless accounts of her predetermined choice 1 second after being taken. What's more, she doesn't have to worry about anything being taken away from her and used against her, the weapon is information itself.

It doesn't take much effort to see the many other situations where affordable technology of this type will have an impact. Everything from home security to child safety will be greatly enhanced and the positive effects on society will be profound and immediate.

Cell Phone Jammers

"While many people find the devices fun as a sort of practical joke, there is also a serious side to the debate. The jammers raise a security threat, since criminals could use them to prevent hostages or others from communicating in an emergency."

The threat from these devices will only grow as dependence on the wireless web grows. Assuming cell phone jammers will always be available on the black market, society will have to come up with a way to detect and remove them.

but hmmmmm. the situation get's sticky.

anygood reason for an individual to be able to own a jammer when weighed against the potential harm?

The jammer does kind of spoil the point of your first post.

Personally, I'm picking that eventually privacy in public places will be a thing of the past. It's getting close already with the number of security cameras around. Soon there will be one on every lamp post and telephone pole. Should be little reason to worry unless you are breaking the law, or paranoid.