Lose A Camera? Your Photos May Be Waiting For You Online

You are sitting on the beach of a tropical paradise, sifting through the family photos that you have just taken on your digital camera. Your momentary reflection period is interrupted by a family member telling you to "go long" and you allow the camera to fall in the sand as you make a game-saving interception during a round of beach football. At the end of the day you pack up your belongings and walk away, leaving your camera behind.

Imagine that a stranger comes along and picks up your camera. Would you want him looking at your digital memories? Of course not! But what if the stranger was looking through your personal pictures for the purpose of re-connecting you with your lost camera? Does the end justify the means?

Matt Preprost, a 20-year-old student at the University of Winnipeg believes that being a good Samaritan entitles you to some degree of personal privacy invasion. He founded the website www.ifoundyourcamera.net which attempts to re-connect people with their lost cameras, photos and memory sticks. (Source: princegeorgecitizen.com)

The "stranger" in the above situation would click onto the website and upload two pictures featuring identifiable people and/or landmarks. The pictures are then catalogued on the site, for the benefit of those unfortunate souls who realize that their photos are no longer with them.

While www.ifoundyourcamera.net was designed with nothing but good intentions in mind, the question of personal privacy is one that could jeopardize the continuation of the website.

While the site has not had a single problem thus far with user complaints, the letter of the law states that the one who snapped the photo in the first place is its copyrighted owner. The website is, in essence, encouraging an unauthorized reproduction of lost pictures without legal consent.

Still, supporters of the website have argued that the pictures are not being dealt for commercial benefit and therefore the website should be allowed to stay.

Since its inception, the website has received over 700,000 hits, with 60 people sending in lost images. A total of 8 successful reunions have taken place through the website. (Source: canoe.ca)