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Thread: Hidden Cameras

  1. #1
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    Hidden Cameras

    I have a vacation scheduled for later this summer, when I'll be using an Airbnb for the first time. A friend of mine said I needed to be careful about hidden cameras inside the house. I don't know how much actual truth there is in this statement, but then sometimes I've stayed in some sketchy hotels and wondered about the same thing. Lucky for me that I'm pretty boring to watch.

    I did the Google thing. I learned things like the fingernail check for i.d.'ing 2-way glass mirrors, and more complicated ways of i.d.'ing 2-way acrylic mirrors. And shining a flashlight around in the dark looking for the reflection of a camera lens. And stuff about checking a the WiFi for weird items, assuming they're not on their own separate networks.

    Do y'all give much thought to stuff like this? If not, why? If so, what if any precautions do you take? I'm not generally given to conspiracy theories, so I'm not freaked out. But hey, it's a topic for discussion and that's what gives a forum life, right?

  2. #2
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    Wife and I stay at hotels, VRBO's and AirBnB's often enough.
    When I get to wondering about hidden cameras, I laugh at the thought of our mid-50's sexcapades showing up on the Dark Web....

    I DO worry about WiFi security and always use a VPN when I travel.
    "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." - Thomas Jefferson, Virginia Constitution, Draft 1, 1776

  3. #3
    I downloaded an app that supposedly helps locate anything that could be a camera lens. It's called "Spy Detector." I also use a bright flashlight to look for anything that is suspect. If I have my doubts - such as a clock radio, etc. - I cover it or turn it around. I suspect most VRBO and Air BnB types realize they would get sued into oblivion if they got caught doing that, but the world is full of stupid people so my motto is better safe than sorry.

  4. #4
    banana republican blues's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by El Cid View Post
    I downloaded an app that supposedly helps locate anything that could be a camera lens. It's called "Spy Detector." I also use a bright flashlight to look for anything that is suspect. If I have my doubts - such as a clock radio, etc. - I cover it or turn it around. I suspect most VRBO and Air BnB types realize they would get sued into oblivion if they got caught doing that, but the world is full of stupid people so my motto is better safe than sorry.
    The classic "dick move".

    Fun world we're living in.
    There's nothing civil about this war.

    Read: Harrison Bergeron

  5. #5
    Delta Busta Kappa fratboy Hot Sauce's Avatar
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    Oct 2014
    Quote Originally Posted by El Cid View Post
    I downloaded an app that supposedly helps locate anything that could be a camera lens. It's called "Spy Detector." I also use a bright flashlight to look for anything that is suspect. If I have my doubts - such as a clock radio, etc. - I cover it or turn it around. I suspect most VRBO and Air BnB types realize they would get sued into oblivion if they got caught doing that, but the world is full of stupid people so my motto is better safe than sorry.
    Can you tell us more about how Spy Detector works, and your experience with it? Sounds interesting.
    Gaming will get you killed in the streets. Dueling will get you killed in the fields.
    -Alexander Hamilton

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by El Cid View Post
    I downloaded an app that supposedly helps locate anything that could be a camera lens. It's called "Spy Detector." I also use a bright flashlight to look for anything that is suspect. If I have my doubts - such as a clock radio, etc. - I cover it or turn it around. I suspect most VRBO and Air BnB types realize they would get sued into oblivion if they got caught doing that, but the world is full of stupid people so my motto is better safe than sorry.
    This might explain why our digital clocks in our VRBO house are usually face down when we come in to clean. We have two security cameras in our place covering the front and back doors on the outside. We let our guests know about those cameras and we've never had an issue with it. Most have same sort of camera in their own homes.

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Hot Sauce View Post
    Can you tell us more about how Spy Detector works, and your experience with it? Sounds interesting.
    Well I’ve never found a hidden camera. And I’m not aware of any sex tapes out there. So I really have no way to prove it does or doesn’t work. Lol!

  8. #8
    Member Hieronymous's Avatar
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    This BBC segment will illustrate for you how vulnerable we are to being recorded. I got upgraded to a hotel suite in Jerusalem a few years back that had a drop down wood latticework ceiling. I thought, if I look for a camera they’ll think I’m a spy, and no way to efficiently look for ceiling cameras with that set up. The two military age male “employees” who unsolicited knocked on my door in the evening to both see if I needed anything, just added to the effect.


  9. #9
    Depending on your choice in phones, the camera may lack an IR filter and thus be able to pick up and display active IR emissions with sufficient darkness\contrast. iPhones are distinct in being uniformly equipped with an IR filter. They can thus be used to search for active emitters.

    If in a foreign country of the sort to regularly and casually monitor visitors from here or there, one should be cautioned against tampering with anything discovered of such a nature, as the monitoring agency may make themselves known and\or increase the level of scrutiny applied to the discoverer. This may be undesirable.
    Jules
    Runcible Works

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by runcible View Post
    Depending on your choice in phones, the camera may lack an IR filter and thus be able to pick up and display active IR emissions with sufficient darkness\contrast. iPhones are distinct in being uniformly equipped with an IR filter. They can thus be used to search for active emitters.
    The order of your sentences is a little confusing, but a quick search led me to the following info. iPhones since at least the 5 have had an IR filter installed in the outward-facing camera, meaning they *cannot* be used to search for active emitters. However, many if not all iPhones do *not* have an IR filter on the rearward (selfie) camera.

    I tested this on my old iPhone SE, which is a glorified 5. Sure enough, if I press a button on my TV remote while aiming it at the main camera, my camera viewscreen shows nothing. But if I flip it to the selfie screen and aim it at that camera lens, it picks up a red light when I push a button on the remote.

    So if using an iPhone of at least this vintage to search for IR emissions, you use the selfie camera and look over your shoulder with it. Idk if the newer iPhones have IR filters on the selfie cameras also or not.

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