There are those who claim that they need these devices for their livelihood. However, in such matters, a person cannot make decisions on his own without consulting Daas Torah. He must present before a competent Rav all the reasons that lead him to believe that he requires such a device, and it is the Rav who will determine whether his reasoning is valid. For sometimes, there is no real justification for possessing such devices, and it is merely the yetzer hara speaking from within him...
Even if it is determined that his reasoning is correct, there is still no blanket permission to possess a device unless it is equipped with a strong filter from a company that does not compromise under any circumstances—ensuring absolute protection from stumbling upon prohibited sights, chalilah. Furthermore, even in such a case, he should be careful not to carry the device openly, for at the end of the day, even a filtered device is a b’dieved reality (a less-than-ideal situation), and something that is only permitted b’dieved should be handled discreetly.
To what can this be compared? To one whose doctors have ruled that he must eat on Yom Kippur. Even though he is fulfilling a mitzvah by eating, he still eats in private—out of embarrassment that he differs from the rest of the Jewish people. How much more so in the case of these devices—where even one who requires them for livelihood cannot be considered as fulfilling a mitzvah—that he should feel shame in displaying it publicly.
Additionally, this issue creates a sense of laxity and a stumbling block for the public. There are those who strongly desire these impure devices, but knowing that they will be denounced by the community, they refrain from acquiring them. However, if they see so-and-so and another person walking around with such devices, they may decide to also cast off the yoke of communal responsibility... They do not know that the device is filtered!
