You've just finished working out and showering, and you reach into your gym bag to make a quick call on your new cell phone before you leave the locker room.
Don't even think of it if you're a member of the YMCA of Greater St. Petersburg. Like an increasing number of gyms around the country, the Y on 1st Avenue S has barred the use of cell phones in its locker rooms.
The reason: It's hard to tell who's just punching numbers and who's snapping a digital picture that can be transmitted instantly over today's camera-phones.
"We have to do everything we can to protect the privacy of our members," executive director Douglas Linder said.
Camera phones have been common in the United States for only about a year, but there are already 6-million of them, according to market-research company IDC. Many more are likely to be sold as holiday gifts.
The rapid growth has inspired business owners, municipalities and school districts to look again at the picture phones.
The Chicago City Council is expected to vote this month on a proposal that would ban the use of camera phones in places where "the average Chicagoan would expect a reasonable right to privacy." Violators could be fined between $5 and $500. Other smaller suburban jurisdictions, such as Seven Hills, Ohio, and Des Peres, Mo., have instituted rules on the use of cell phones with varying degrees of success.
It's an idea that doesn't seem to have worked its way onto the agenda of local government in the Tampa Bay area, judging by a check of civic debates in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater. But it remains the talk of many health clubs.
At the YMCA of the Suncoast, which includes Y's in North Pinellas, Pasco and Hernando counties, managers are putting up signs indicating that camera phones can no longer be used in its locker rooms.
The YMCA's insurance company notified it that locker room spy photos could become a liability issue, but Suncoast senior vice president Elizabeth Dubuque isn't sure how well anyone could monitor adherence to the new rules.
"It's pretty hard to know if somebody has one, especially since people come in with their gym bags and other cell phones," Dubuque said. "We have a policy against people drinking in the Y, too, but if someone decided to bring a beer in, we'd have to catch them."
At TBT Gym in Clearwater, photography has been banned for years, ever since a member was being followed by someone. While owner Mark Frisina is keeping an eye on the new technology, he doesn't think any additional policy is necessary.
"We don't search our members or anything like that, but we'd certainly say something if we saw it being done," Frisina said. "People want their peace when they come here, so they certainly don't want to think someone is walking about taking pictures."
Jim Amrhein, owner of Body Dynamics in St. Petersburg, says his club has an unwritten rule that members should leave their phones in the car. Members are asked to step outside if they need to use their cells.
"It just interferes with their workout and annoys other members," Amrhein said. "We don't have anything posted, but our employees have been trained to look for them, and if we see someone with one, we would ask them to leave it at the desk."
At Pinellas and Hillsborough County schools, middle school and high school students are no longer barred from bringing phones to school, but they must keep them turned off and out of sight, unless an administrator gives permission to make a call. School officials said they were not aware of any incidents that had occurred because of camera cell phones.
But in Chicago, some politicians think there ought to be a law.
"What grabbed my attention was that TV commercial when the guy is eating the pasta like a slob, and the girl sends a photo of him acting like a slob to the fiancee," Chicago Alderman Edward Burke said. "If I'm in a locker room changing clothes, there shouldn't be some pervert taking photos of me that could wind up on the Internet."
But L. Richard Fischer, a Washington lawyer who deals with privacy issues, said laws like these could lead to lawsuits from people who cannot call for help during emergencies. He suggests that punishment for taking pictures would be more effective, rather than banning the phones.
"They've threatened the rights of the majority of people to try to control the conduct of a few, and that's just beyond the balance," Fischer said.
- Information from the New York Times was used in this report. Benita Newton can be reached at bnewton@sptimes.com or 727 893-8318.
