What is a hidden camera?

There are plenty of cameras everywhere, mobile cameras, CCTV, laptop cameras, pen camera, micro camera, baby monitor cameras, and many more. All serve a purpose BUT if someone is trying to take a snap, shoot a video with any of that camera without letting you know and without your explicit consent, by hiding that camera in such a way that you never know you were recorded then that is a hidden camera.

What is the threat of hidden cameras in 2021? Do they still exist in today’s world?

Yes, in fact, it is growing. There is so much advancement in nanotechnology that size of the cameras is getting smaller and smaller. In the early days, cameras were expensive, set up was hard and in certain cases, it required adjusting the interior to hide them. Today, tiny cameras are not expensive, they don’t need a lot of setups, in fact, many cameras are wireless or Bluetooth cameras that don’t need any setup. Scammers can stream them, record them and even transfer them without much hassle. 

What could be the purpose of placing a hidden camera?

Why would anyone do this, there are so many reasons. If it is a hotel room or guest house, hotel management staff can hold the intention to record your videos secretly and sell them on porn sites. It could be someone trying to blackmail you.

Not just that, if you are a businessman, it could be used to steal sensitive business information, deals.

A hidden camera can also be placed to generate evidence against you. If you are an ex-military or departmental officer, it could be used to track you.

Let’s go simpler, it’s an era of Youtube and TikTok, in many cases, someone can plot a prank against you and place the hidden camera to capture your reaction. 

Can we detect hidden cameras?

Yes, you can! In fact, many people have detected hidden cameras and made the news. In fact, you will see such news almost every day. Don’t believe me? See Google news

Now, what is the trick to detect hidden cameras? There is no single trick. You need to get knowledge about the hidden cameras and understand some ways to detect them. If you see the people who detected hidden cameras successfully, there are 2 things in common,

1. These people were conscious about the rooms they stayed in. 
2. They noticed some signals to develop the suspicion and they investigated.

The very first thing you should do is to scan the rooms that you visit and try to see some signals that you think are suspicious. You need to be aware of your surrounding especially in hotel rooms, changing rooms, guest houses, etc. This seems very simple but if you are a frequent traveler then you definitely underestimate this step. Detecting hidden camera start with this step. 

Once you are aware and you start inspection of your hotel room then there are many signals that you should look for. We will discuss them in detail below.

Signals for detecting hidden cameras

There are different types of hidden cameras in the market. The way to detect each of them is totally different. For simplicity, let’s see the major type of hidden cameras

1. Wired Camera
2. Wireless Camera
3. Infrared Camera
4. Pinhole Camera
5. CCTV, Security Camera

You can make use of some tools like a hidden camera detector app and/or purchase a hidden camera detector or signal detector hardware.

For detecting wired cameras, read this complete guide here. 

For detecting wireless cameras, read this complete guide here

For detecting infrared cameras, read this complete guide here

For detecting pinhole and security cameras like CCTV, read this complete guide here.

How to detect hidden camera in toilet?

When you are in a public toilet, the most common places to hide a secret camera in bathroom are 

1. Two Way Mirror
2. Hair Dryer
3. Pinhole cameras that look like screws around mirror/ washbasin
4. Cloth hanger
5. Smoke detectors at the ceiling
6. Trimmers/ shavers

You need to inspect these objects for lens and make use of hidden camera detector app to help you further. 

How to detect hidden camera in bedroom?

The most common places to hide spy camera in bedroom are

1. Clock
2. Smoke detector
3. flowerpot
4. remote control
5. AC (especially in the case of central AC)
6. TV
7. Pinhole cams that look like screws
8. decorative items

How to detect hidden camera in changing rooms?

When you go to the mall or go shopping, swimming or even if you are a sports player then you frequently go to changing room. It is possible for someone to plant a hidden spy camera in changing room. No matter how reputed the mall is, you can not trust their employees. 

Mostly there are mobile phone cameras which are placed in such a way that it not noticeable. You can easily detect mobile cams with AI using hidden camera detector gold app.

The most common places to hide hidden camera in changing room are

1. Two-way Mirror
2. Cloth hangers
3. Pinhole cams that look like screws.

Apart from these what are some other signals that we should look for?

Apart from signals from the cameras, you can look for other signals such as broken electrical outlets, bigger than usual screw-like objects, unnecessarily placed decorative objects, non-working but modified electronic equipment, any wiring that goes out of your room and can not be justified, oddly looking smoke detector, etc. 

Okay, that was about detection but what kind of precaution shall we take to minimize the chances?

1. Always make sure the hotel room that is booked, is from a reputed company. You can explore their website and other travel listing sites.
2. Check for the ratings and the approximate number of people who stayed in that hotel room. If your government has any rating system, do utilize that. 
3. If you are staying at the guest house through an app like Airbnb, demand security assurance from the app vendor. These are the places where such incident happens more than hotel rooms. If the app through which you booked the room is only a facilitator between a renter and the customer, and if there is no protection then try to stay away from such apps as much as possible. (Of course if privacy matters to you :))
4. While checking out at hotel room, never mention if you are on honeymoon or if you are on an important business trip. DO NOT ask for special treatment such as bed decoration, no disturbance, etc. for such reasons. Later on, you can use the “Do not disturb” board if you need it but do not explicitly mention it at reception or to the housekeeper.
5. Don’t let the housekeeper clean your room when you are not in the room. 
6. Explore these 1o steps to be safe from the hidden camera.
7. Always carry a non-transparent cello tape with you. If you find anything suspicious but can not confirm, go ahead and stick a cello tape over it while you stay. Prevention is better than cure!
8. Bookmark this page, because you are not going to remember it all. 😀

I suspect a hidden camera but can not find it. 

Do follow the checklist step by step based on the information you got till this point. If you are unable to find a hidden camera but still feel that it’s there then you are getting paranoid. The intention of this activity and the hidden camera detector app is not to make you panic or paranoid but use it as a tool. 

If you do not find any wireless camera, if you do not see any infrared camera and if there is no lens where the hidden camera detector app beeps then relax. There is no need to panic. 

You can also apply some logic based on the situation, like if the suspicious object doesn’t have any power supply then it’s not a camera. Because camera, let it be any kind, need a power supply, let it be battery or AC power. If you have suspicion on something on the door but if the sight of that object doesn’t cover your bedroom and bathroom, no one is going to place a hidden camera there. Your common sense and wisdom should override your paranoia.  

You need to spend some time detecting hidden cameras, try all the steps to detect them and then if you do not find anything, just do not panic and enjoy your stay. Try Step no #7 in case you still have doubt about something but there is no need to panic then after.  

How accurate hidden camera detector app is?

The hidden camera detector app offers 3 different ways to detect different types of cameras. Each mechanism has its limitation. Sensors available on mobile phones are not meant for this purpose. App offers the best it can help detect the cameras with limited hardware capabilities. But as technology evolves, the app is making use of them as much as possible to detect the cameras. Let say AI to detect some pinhole cameras, CCTV and mobile cameras, etc.  

The app is not 100% accurate. User intervention is required. The app should be used as a tool to help you scan hidden cameras effectively rather than your own eyes. The user is expected to understand how each function works and make the best use of it. 

If you like this guide and the app, feel free to connect with us on social media (links are below), share your experience or if you need any help, click on the message icon below to write us an email.