Hidden Cameras and How To Find Them
Over the past decade, hidden cameras have become harder and harder to detect visually due to advanced technology dramatically reducing their size and lowering the amount of power they consume. Due to these factors, it is now possible to covertly install a camera in nearly any imaginable product or place, as long as there is an opening the size of a pinhole.
Closed Circuit TV and hidden cameras are everywhere, and in the past year hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on "surveillance" cameras. Many of these cameras are for public safety, and are located in banks, parking lots, shopping malls, gas stations, and transportation centers. Unfortunately, many miniature or covert cameras are used for some less than legitimate reasons.
These cameras have been installed in hotel rooms, bathrooms, showers, bedrooms, changing areas and other places where a person should feel comfortable, safe, secure and expect to receive a certain degree of privacy. Camera lenses can be as obscure as a nail or screw head, button, pinhole or rivet. With the onset of fiber optics, lenses are getting even smaller, as the cable attached to the lens can run for 350-500 feet before connecting to the processing portion of the camera.
So how does a layperson detect these intrusive mini pinhole cameras or a camera that has been installed in an everyday device, such as a clock radio, DVD player, or wall clock? Visual detection is only the first step in detecting a covert camera. Wireless cameras can be detected with a hand-held RF (radio frequency) detector which will detect the wireless signal transmitted from the camera to the camera's receiver, which can be hundreds of feet away. The RF Detector will vibrate or beep, indicating a signal is detected.
The Wireless Camera Finder comes with a 2.5 inch video screen and automatically scans a wide spectrum of frequencies. When a signal is detected, the Wireless Camera Hunter actually locks in on the transmission and shows you what the wireless camera is recording on the video screen. These wireless transmissions travel on frequencies from 1 Mhz to over 2.4 Ghz or higher.
In addition to the RF detector, the Science & Engineering Associates (SEA Inc.) have developed a product called the Spy Finder. Without getting too technical, the handheld Spy Finder employs a view finder one looks through and two low powered lasers that produces a powerful red blinking reflection from the camera's lens when pointed at any camera. This guarantees flawless detection of wired or wireless cameras, whether the cameras are powered on or not. There are two versions of the Laser Camera Finders, one that detects cameras at approximately 12 feet, and the advanced high power laser that will detect at fifty feet or more.
Contrary to popular belief, hidden cameras are not rare. There is no easier target for voyeur than an unsuspecting person. Don't panic, just be aware of the potential threat and be secure in the knowledge that there are tool available to help the average person detect these intrusions.
I hope this has explained in a brief and simplistic manner the potential threat and a rather simple solution. By the way, I never travel without a camera finder.
