By ninemsn staff
A controversial device that emits an irritating high-pitched noise to disperse loitering youths has launched in Australia.
The gadget, named the Mosquito, emits a shrill high frequency ring that targets the sensitive hearing of teenagers.
Listen to a similar high frequency alarm here.
Shopkeepers in the UK are using the 20cm black box to disband teens, while blissfully unaware adults continue shopping.
However, campaigners claim the pulsing sound, which travels 20m, has adversely affected many young people and may breach human rights standards.
"I have spoken to many children and young people from all over England who have been deeply affected by ultrasonic teenage deterrents," The Daily Mail reported "Buzz Off" campaigner Professor Sir Al Aynsley-Green as saying.
"These devices are indiscriminate and target all children and young people, including babies, regardless of whether they are behaving or misbehaving."
Around 3500 of the devices have already been installed in the UK.
The Australian company distributing the $1100 Mosquito device have been conducting tests in shopping centres and were quick to downplay any safety concerns.
"When it is installed correctly, it's 100 percent safe," All Products and Solutions general manager Clay Nelson told ninemsn.
"It can't harm you, it's purely designed to annoy people and move them on.
"There will always be people who question new technologies, but they simply don't understand the facts.
"If they visited a shopping centre and witnessed the damage and annoyance that they have to deal with, they'd understand the product is a non-harmful solution to a serious problem."
In the past, Australian supermarket and fast food carparks have experimented with playing classical and country music at night to discourage loiterers.
Meanwhile, civil liberties groups in the UK are reportedly looking for a test case to bring to court against the Mosquito's creators.
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