7/31/2023 0 Comments Hotel spy cam![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Like Baer Arnold, though, he feels under-reporting means it’s difficult to judge the magnitude of the problem. But Claxton cautions that covert filming is still rare (“most people are decent,” he says, somewhat reassuringly). The motivation for installing hidden cameras varies from personal sexual gratification to financial gain, blackmail or suspicions of infidelity. ![]() Just last month, police in South Korea arrested two men whom they allege were part of a spycam ring that secretly filmed about 1,600 hotel guests and live-streamed footage online to subscribers. “There are a number of hotels in Asia that have found devices…hidden in hotel rooms behind TVs or in amongst cables and clutter,” he told me. In his anonymous-looking office in Sydney (and yes, I was hoping for something more Bond-like), security advisor and counter-espionage consultant Julian Claxton spreads out a selection of surveillance equipment on the desk for me to examine: cords, car keys, an iphone cable and other small devices that concealed a camera.Ĭlaxton says he was approached recently by a hotel chain in Australia that was concerned about the possibility of covert surveillance of guests. “They’re easy to install – you simply download the app, scan the QR code on the camera, and as long as you have the wifi password for the place you’re in – anywhere from a private home, to a café, or shopping centre – you can hide the device and livestream images to your phone, from wherever you happen to be.” “In the past two years, I’ve noticed a rise in the number of wifi-enabled cameras on the market,” says Bill Sayed, the owner of Spy City, which mainly supplies surveillance equipment to police and other government agencies. Online, a simple search reveals an array of tiny and discreet surveillance cameras – from those hidden in cables, iPhone chargers and keys, to cameras designed to live in alarm clocks, ceilings and bookshelves. Using hidden cameras to spy on people is nothing new (men were using box brownies to upskirt women in the 19th century), but recent advances in technology mean these devices have become easier to disguise. “The law is inadequate,” he says, “and there are bizarre inconsistencies between states and territories… We have a patchwork of law, and it’s looking increasingly moth-eaten.” Precise statistics are difficult to come by, but there has been a steep rise in the number of prosecutions for illegal and covert surveillance, and experts are worried they’re just the tip of the iceberg.ĭr Bruce Baer Arnold, an assistant law professor at the University of Canberra, told us instances of covert filming are almost certainly under-reported by the public, and claimed the law was struggling to keep up with new, sophisticated devices. Just last month, a tourist was charged with installing a hidden camera in a bathroom at a Bondi backpacker hostel, while a Sydney landlord was jailed for using cameras hidden in clocks and a watch to capture images of tenants having sex, masturbating and using the bathroom. Stumbling upon a hidden camera felt outlandish – like something you’d see in a movie, or one of those ‘only in America’ moments – but as I later discovered it has become increasingly common, and not just overseas. I had trouble determining what to do next. And the camera had been trained on the bed. I first thought, perhaps he was paranoid I would steal something? But there was nothing in the room aside from the bed, the books, an empty dressing table and an empty cupboard. Getting ready one morning a few days after I arrived, I stooped to examine the books John kept on a small bookshelf in the bedroom. That was when a small, black and white device – wedged between two novels – caught my eye. I might easily have mistaken it for a portable charger, if it weren’t for the tiny lens glinting up at me. I was sharing the flat with John*, the host, a stereotypically bicycle-riding hipster in his 30s, polite but quiet. It was a short walk from the Williamsburg Bridge, skirted by trendy cafes, Jewish delis and Yemeni bodegas, and it was reasonably priced. On a searing summer evening in New York City last year, I stepped into an old Brooklyn apartment where I intended to stay for the next 10 days. ![]()
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