How to Spot Hidden Cameras in Vacation Rentals

[Father]

Don't let a hidden camera in your bedroom or toilet interfere with your private stay.

What are we talking about?​

Recently, a lot of reports have appeared on the network that people on vacation have begun to find hidden cameras in their private accommodation.

Surveillance cameras in rented housing can be installed by owners only in common areas, and information about their locations must be communicated to all tenants.

Most of the "victims" of covert surveillance booked houses and apartments using the well-known private rental service Airbnb, which is very popular among Russians. However, such a “fate” could await both admirers of the domestic search engine for housing Tvil.ru, and users of other resources. After all, owners of private houses and apartments can post their ads on different rental sites.

Here's a specific case (see tweet below). American activist Jason Scott writes about the incident with his colleague, who rented an apartment on the Airbnb website and found a "motion detector" in his bedroom. Considering that the location of the device in this room is somewhat strange, he studied it in more detail and discovered a hidden camera connected to the Internet.

And if you add to this the fact that the cameras are sometimes installed by the residents themselves, then the situation becomes generally disgusting. There are cases when inadequate tenants, secretly from the owners, installed hidden cameras in the toilets of their rented housing, and then monitored the subsequent tenants in the network.

Given that the number of such cases is constantly increasing, and the cameras are getting smaller and smaller, there is a real need to learn how to resist this type of perfidious interference with privacy.

That is why we decided to tell you how to detect hidden cameras in rented private accommodation using simple technical tools that you can easily take with you on vacation.

Instructions​

Visual inspection
In any case, you should always start with a simple inspection of the premises. Sometimes, even a cursory view can help detect a covert surveillance camera or eavesdropping device. When inspecting your home, keep in mind that at this point you may already be filmed.

Check for bugs and surveillance cameras in places that are obvious to hide. Find and check the following objects:

• motion detectors (in corners near ceilings);
• smoke detectors;
• alarm;
• photo frames (especially digital);
• accumulation of chargers.

Use of technical means
After a visual inspection, you can begin to use technical means to search for hidden cameras.

You can try to detect miniature cameras by the brightness of the lenses of their lenses. For this process, it is best to use a dedicated smartphone app:

• for iOS - Spy Hidden Camera Detector
• for Android - Hidden Camera Detector

There are also special detectors on sale for detecting bugs and hidden cameras. Some of them are inexpensive, and there are many times more expensive - the price determines the breadth of the devices' capabilities.

Laser detector CC308 +

In most cases, even a cheap detector will show you where the radio and GSM signals are coming from and can detect hidden camera lenses using a special viewfinder. Such devices can be bought on Aliexpress, for example, the CC308 + laser detector.

What is the result?​

If you find that you are being spied on, immediately collect the evidence base of the found devices using photo and video materials. Contact the administration of the service where you booked the private accommodation and provide them with evidence of surveillance. Further, they will already act.

Unfortunately, you will have to look for another place to live. These are, of course, additional costs. However, only a change of scenery will help you quickly forget about an unpleasant incident and return you to rest.