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THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, January 24, 2003 Copyright 2003 The Dallas Morning News The Dallas Morning News January 24, 2003, Friday SECOND EDITION SECTION: TEXAS LIVING; Pg. 3C LENGTH: 653 words No cellphones in the locker room - get the picture?; Clubs don't want members overexposed; by those photo phones SOURCE: Staff Writer BYLINE: ALINE McKENZIE BODY: It's something that might have come out of James Bond or I Spy - tiny telephones with tiny cameras built into them. After shooting the picture, you can transmit it instantly through the air to friends or family. And that has some health clubs worried about surreptitious pictures being taken in their locker rooms - so they're banning all use of cellphones, just to be on the safe side. The combination phone-cameras are extremely popular in Asia and are just hitting the market in the United States. The company Physical, which operates nine gyms in Hong Kong, recently posted signs in its facilities forbidding the use of mobile phones in locker rooms. "It's just some areas that are restricted for mobile phones," Physical spokeswoman Miran Chan says. "Some of these phones can be used as cameras. If someone uses a phone this way and takes a photo and puts it on the Internet, it's not very good for our members and their privacy." In nearby Macau, the use of the new camera-equipped cellphones has also become an issue for the territory's 11 casinos owned by magnate Stanley Ho, says Julie Fernandes, spokeswoman for Mr. Ho's company, Sociedade de Jogos de Macau. In the United States, cellphone providers defend their wares, while health club companies, recently aware of the situation, are deciding how to handle it. "Obviously, the purpose of a combination camera-phone development has never been to disguise the camera," says Mary Nell Westbrook, a spokeswoman for Sprint Wireless' Southwest region. "It's really a consumer-driven need to have a digital camera with them where they take their phone." A friend of hers, on vacation, took a photo of her baby on the beach and was able to send it immediately to her friends, she says. The phone-cameras can also be useful in business; for instance, an insurance adjuster making an inspection. Kenneth Hooper, a spokesman for 24 Hour Fitness, says the company is deciding what to do about the camera issue. "There are no cameras allowed in 24 Hour Fitness anyway, period," he says. "It's an environment where you've paid to be in a private environment." The new phones are just a new twist to that policy, he says. Sara Tollette, a spokeswoman for the Cooper Aerobics Center in Dallas, says they aren't aware of the potential for a problem. "A lot of times, people here have their phones in their lockers," she says. "We really haven't started looking into it." "We are aware of the new technology," says Bally spokesman Jon Harris. "The security, the privacy and the safety of our members is always uppermost in our minds. If this technology does something to hamper that, then we will have to take steps against it." Lynn Oristano, a senior trainer at the Oasis Mind-Body Conditioning Center, says their main problem with cellphones is people having loud conversations or ringers. "People are usually coming and going, talking on their cellphones," she says. Steven Knuff, a spokesman for Nokia, says of gym pictures: "I was a little shocked that someone would actually do that, but I understand where the health clubs are coming from." Nokia will release a phone-camera in the United States in March, priced at under $ 400. Sprint also has a phone-camera on the U.S. market, going for $ 399. Other phones, which have a port that can take an external camera, go for $ 299.99 and $ 179.99. AT&T has a $ 150 phone with a $ 129 detachable camera. Jeremy Pemble, a spokesman for AT&T, says that in coming years, more and more devices will have cameras or wire transmission built in - for instance, a video camera that can transmit images. "This really all comes down to common sense and common decency," he says. "With any new technology, anyone has to think about how it impacts the people around them." Reuters wire service contributed to this report.