General Discussion

MineralMan

(146,328 posts) Mon Apr 9, 2012, 10:13 AM Apr 2012

Who's Watching You When You Travel?

I love to travel. I enjoy being in other cities and staying in hotels and motels that have amenities like room service and are near places I want to visit. I wish I could afford to do it more often. The carefree life while traveling is very appealing. But...just the other day, while I was on a blog I sometimes visit, I saw an ad being served by some ad service in the sidebar of the blog. The headline was: "Secret Hotel Room Sex Videos!" It was an ad for some porn site. That got me thinking, so I went hunting around a little bit.

What do these things have in common?

You might have seen these things in every hotel room you've ever stayed in: A clock radio, a smoke alarm, a ceiling speaker, a thermostat, and a fire sprinkler. Pretty much every room I've stayed in had all or most of them. I never even notice this stuff. However, I should, I think.

Each of those items pictured is a functional device that also contains a wireless video camera. Each sells for under $200. Each can be installed in five minutes by anyone with a desire to record videos of what happens where any of those are installed. The output can be viewed or recorded from any place near that place, like the room next door. So, while you're enjoying your stay in some place, others may soon be enjoying watching you enjoy your stay on the Internet.

Here's a site that sells this stuff. Googling "covert cameras" will turn up many more:

http://www.supercircuits.com/Hidden-Cameras/

"Secret Hotel Room Sex Videos!" You could be a porn star and not even know it.

7 replies

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Highlight:

Who's Watching You When You Travel? (Original Post) MineralMan Apr 2012 OP

I stayed in a hotel once where every object like this was loose. Apparently RKP5637 Apr 2012 #1

Frankly, I don't bother. I rarely do anything in hotel rooms MineralMan Apr 2012 #4

LOL!!! n/t RKP5637 Apr 2012 #6

Oh, yeah, I forgot one thing: MineralMan Apr 2012 #2

Or you could just cover them. redqueen Apr 2012 #7

I see invasion of privacy lawsuits in the near future meow2u3 Apr 2012 #3

The thing is that it's very, very unlikely that the victims of this MineralMan Apr 2012 #5

RKP5637

(67,112 posts)

1. I stayed in a hotel once where every object like this was loose. Apparently

Reply to MineralMan (Original post)

Mon Apr 9, 2012, 10:22 AM

Apr 2012

a previous occupant had inspected every device for surveillance. Even the outlet covers were loose. I was always in hi-tech land, so whoever was there might have been concerned about company confidential information, etc. This time I was in Silicon Valley.

MineralMan

(146,328 posts)

4. Frankly, I don't bother. I rarely do anything in hotel rooms

Reply to RKP5637 (Reply #1)

Mon Apr 9, 2012, 10:25 AM

Apr 2012

I care if someone sees, and my naked self is enough to blind any camera from the light reflecting off my fish-belly-white body. I'm certain that the hotel clerk assigns me a room free of such devices after taking one glance at me. Newlyweds? Well, I'd be worried if I were a newlywed on a trip.

RKP5637

(67,112 posts)

6. LOL!!! n/t

Reply to MineralMan (Reply #4)

Mon Apr 9, 2012, 10:43 AM

Apr 2012

MineralMan

(146,328 posts)

2. Oh, yeah, I forgot one thing:

Reply to MineralMan (Original post)

Mon Apr 9, 2012, 10:22 AM

Apr 2012

You can buy a scanner that will find any of these cameras for around $500.00 if you're really concerned about it. It will show you if there are any such wireless cameras nearby and display the image from those cameras. I won't post a link, but Googling Wireless Video Camera Detector will find them for you.

redqueen

(115,103 posts)

7. Or you could just cover them.

Reply to MineralMan (Reply #2)

Mon Apr 9, 2012, 10:51 AM

Apr 2012

The smoke alarm and sprinkler would be tricky though.

Glad I read this before my next trip, thanks for posting it.

meow2u3

(24,771 posts)

3. I see invasion of privacy lawsuits in the near future

Reply to MineralMan (Original post)

Mon Apr 9, 2012, 10:25 AM

Apr 2012

One thing: it's scary knowing that you can't even change your clothes in your hotel room without some perv spying on you.

MineralMan

(146,328 posts)

5. The thing is that it's very, very unlikely that the victims of this

Reply to meow2u3 (Reply #3)

Mon Apr 9, 2012, 10:29 AM

Apr 2012

spying ever know about it, so they won't sue. Most people don't ever visit such websites. Without a wireless video camera scanner, you'd never know about the cameras. I'm not sure how widespread this is in the hotel industry, but I suspect that it's more common than we know. What is that night clerk watching and recording?

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