How to find hidden cameras in a rented apartment

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

As long as you are sure you are safe, you can be watched. And this is not paranoia at all.

Short-term rental service is an excellent solution for travel, business trips, parties and dates. However, not everything is so cloudless. The owners of the apartment can present unpleasant surprises. There are known cases of Couple Wakes Up in Airbnb to Find Hidden Cameras Watching Them, when unscrupulous homeowners followed tenants using hidden cameras.

Intimate photos and videos taken in this way may well later appear on the Web. If this prospect scares you, here are some tips on how to find tracking devices in your rented apartment.

How to search for a camera

1. Inspect the apartment with a flashlight

It is not necessary to arm yourself with a tourist, a smartphone flashlight will do. Wait until night or dusk, turn off the electric lights and point the flashlight at walls and corners. The light will bounce off the camera lens. Where it glitters is a potential source of danger.

2. Check the bedside tables and cabinets

Many surveillance cameras are tiny, but larger ones need space. Attackers can place such devices in a cabinet by drilling a viewing hole. Open all the boxes, look for items that look suspicious.

3. Take a closer look at the details

Cameras can be hidden in plain sight, disguising themselves as ordinary things, such as an alarm clock. If a device seems strange, contains parts not provided for by the design, or there are holes in some objects, this is a cause for concern.

4. Pay attention to network connections

If the device sends data to the landlord via Wi-Fi, it will be detected by a special program that you can run from your laptop. This free script, written by developer Julian Oliver, will help you find Wi-Fi cameras and even stop data transfer.

However, there is no guarantee that with the help of this script you will detect the cameras located in your apartment, and not in your neighbor's. But paranoia will play out wonderfully well.

What to do if you still find a hidden camera

1. Leave such an apartment immediately. Demand money back. For example, if you've rented a home through Airbnb, you can. What are Airbnb's rules for electronic surveillance systems? refund the full cost of the booking.
2. In all services that allow you to find housing both on a commercial and free basis, there is "karma" for members. Try to spoil it for the landlord: rate it low and write a review, telling about his actions publicly.
3. Write a complaint to the booking service. It is highly likely that the owner of the apartment will be blocked so that the situation does not repeat itself.
4. Perhaps you will consider it necessary to contact the police, because other tenants may suffer from the actions of an unscrupulous owner, and the already filmed materials are most likely being illegally distributed somewhere. If the case takes place in a foreign country and you are in it for a short time, keep in mind: the proceedings may be delayed.