Mobile phone radiation alert

We have praised the ubiquitous mobile phone enough for its innumerable benefits. But how much have we thought about the danger it poses to our health by way of radiation? Are we safe while talking on the cellphone?

The common fear has been that talking on the cell for a long time may cause brain tumour: and neurological and ENT disorders. A study by the National Institutes of Health, a part of the US Department of Health and Human Services, concluded that the side of the brain closer to the mobile phone recorded higher activity. But if it led to any harm or not couldn’t be established. There have been many other studies as well, but none of them makes a direct correlation between cellphone usage and a particular health disorder.

A measure of the radio frequency absorbed by our body while we talk on the phone is called the Specific Absorption Rate. The standards drawn up by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection, a non-governmental organization recognised by the WHO, is widely followed to determine the safe level of radiation exposure.

The SAR level is capped at 1.6 watts per kg in the US and Canada, and 2 w/kg in Europe. India had capped it at 2 w/kg, but last year, following suggestions of an inter-ministerial group, it was brought down to 1.6 w/kg. The SAR for each call a person makes or receives could vary depending upon many parameters; the distance from the cell tower and strength of the signal being two of them. All mobile phones, and cellphone towers, are supposed to conform to the SAR limit. Also, handsets should have the SAR displayed. But that’s not always the case.

Now, there’s an app for measuring phone radiation -- tawkon. Ironically, it hit the headlines when Steve Jobs rejected it, saying it would confuse iPhone users. The one for Android is available for free download on Google Play.

The app calculates the phone's radiation level and thereby the SAR, and alerts the user, with a beep or vibration, when the call could be above the limit. Tawkon will also email you a report that highlights your weekly talk time, a breakdown of high exposure vs. low exposure minutes, plus a chart to compare personal phone / headset / speaker usage.

How reliable it is? Tawkon says its technology has been calibrated in an FCC (Federal Communication Commission) -certified RF (Radio Frequency) lab with state-of-the-art equipment.

The app will serve as a warning. The wiser counsel though is to keep the phone away from our body; use text and email when you can; if you have to talk, keep the conversation short. If you need to talk for long, use the headphone or the speaker.

(This article appeared in Wireless World column of The Times of India, Bangalore, today)

Handhold kids online

Children are savvy with gadgets and technology. The way they play around with hand-held devices, wearing a geek-like air around themselves, giving one an impression that they have already set eyes on Silicon Valley, is oftentimes awe-inspiring.

While we gloat over the new-age kids’ technological sagacity, as it were, we overlook how safe they are in the world they have got access to. For, mobile phones and laptops are effectively a key to a storehouse of information, that are both serious and trivial, useful and useless, appropriate and inappropriate.

When children venture out into the physical world, there’s someone, mostly parents, to handhold them. Rarely they go too far, alone. But that’sn’t the case when they go out into the online world.   

We are in the Mother’s Day week; and here’s what the mother of a 14-year-old boy has to say: “I don’t understand what my son does with my mobile or on the desktop. He says he is downloading something, he is playing games. If I ask him too much, he will dismissively brush me aside, saying, mama you don’t know these things. I think I need to learn a lot, and give him at least an impression that I too know something!”

This is something every parent will relate to, to some extent at least. The digital divide, by way of awareness levels, is far too wide and worrisome. Results of a recent McAfee national survey on children's online behaviour are startling. 62% of the polled kids shared personal information; 58% shared their home addresses; 39% did not tell their parents about their online activities; and 12% were victims of cyber attack.

Anindita Mishra, McAfee's Cybermum, counsels parental guidance when children use internet. "That’s because the internet has evolved into a platform for self-expression and social interaction, with children indiscriminately indulging in information exchange leading to an increasing rate of cyber exploits."

Some of the ground rules offered by experts are: One, make a comparison with the offline world and educate children as to how online world could be even more dangerous. Two, handhold them; and don’t let them surf alone, because there are high chances they will stray and stumble on something that is inappropriate and distracting. Three, keep the computer in an open place where everyone can see what’s on the screen; and regulate the usage.

Parents should keep an eye on not only which websites kids visit, but also on their chat sessions. Says Mishra, “Get to know your child’s online friends as you do their school and neighbourhood friends. Learn to surf the web and chat online yourself so you understand what it is that your child is doing.”

The challenge before mothers and fathers is not as much as keeping a watch on their kids’ online activity but learning what exactly their kids are up to online.

(This article appeared in Wireless World column of The Times of India, Bangalore, today)