I believe that soon the administration will push for the cell phone manufacturers to provide a method that will allow

[LiberalArkie]

the LEO's to automatically disable all cellphone cameras within a certain radius.

They can already kill the cellular, but that is not enough. People can still record and upload later. They want to be able to turn off the actual camera.

[Ocelot II]

1. I don't think that's possible, because cell phone cameras are just cameras.

They don't rely on the internet or cell towers to work. It's all internal, just like a normal camera; the photo is stored in the phone's own memory. It could be possible to disable the ability to transmit photos, but not to take and store them in the phone, any more than it could be done to any other kind of camera. Maybe they could send out EMF signals that could fry the internal memory, but that would probably fry everybody's electronic devices in the area.

[DetroitLegalBeagle]

3. Software runs the cameras

The camera controls are just an app. So the os on the phone can disable it of a killswitch is programmed into it.

[sir pball]

4. Even if that were implemented

It would need the OS to receive the signal to disable the camera…switch the phone to airplane mode and it shuts down all the radio hardware, the signal can't be heard, and the camera cheerfully keeps running.

I suppose the OS could be updated to disable the camera anytime airplane mode is on, but that probably wouldn't be very popular.

And even if all that were somehow forcibly implemented, standalone GoPro-type cameras are cheap and readily available.

[rampartd]

2. in new orleans post katrina none of our cell phones worked

but texts were sent and received.

[DBoon]

5. This was already proposed years ago

As a way to prevent movie attendees from recording from live cinema, then distributing the video as a pirated version.

The "entertainment industry" wanted this to stop film piracy.

Some folks commented that this would coincidentally prohibit citizens from recording illegal police violence. They are now being proven correct

[LiberalArkie]

6. Now they have a president to sign an executive order and a court to ok it..

[Deuxcents]

7. Some people buy a certain type of iPhone just for the camera..if they disable what we're paying for, we don't pay

Or purchase their products. There are many cameras out there not attached to an iPhone and can fit just about anywhere.

[LiberalArkie]

8. I think that the actual camera (Nikon, Cannon etc) would still work as there would be no way to stop them.

But phone cameras, I think they might try that. To pass that law, they would probably only allow the disabling during an actual event with something like the cellular jammers.