The advent of surveillance cameras helped to monitor the behavior of people, especially with respect to having a higher chance of catching criminals. There is hardly anyone who hasn’t been filmed one way or another by surveillance cameras, either at a private organization or at an ATM, etc. All these are necessary for the security of society at large.
However, the use of surveillance cameras has widened over the years, and the cameras themselves have gotten smaller. To get yourself one of these cameras, see thermalcameras.guide. The makers of surveillance cameras routinely make them in the form of regular items, like clocks, wireless chargers, etc. Whilst these forms enable you to better disguise your cameras, they also enable unscrupulous people to hide cameras and film you without your consent.
For instance, the host of a rented apartment might have a hidden camera in the apartment. Clocks are a usual culprit, but everyday items like USB chargers, smoke detectors, etc can also be used as hidden surveillance cameras.
As a result, it is best to know how to find these hidden surveillance cameras and remove them. Fortunately, your smartphone can handle this task quite well. This article will discuss how, and give you the steps required to perform the task.
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You can Detect Hidden Surveillance Cameras with your Android Phone: Here’s How
Using your smartphone, there are generally two ways you can use to detect a hidden surveillance camera. They are explained below.
2) Using the phone’s camera to detect night vision cameras
1) Wi-Fi Network Scanning
Hidden surveillance cameras usually connect automatically to an internet network, and if the camera is on the same network you have access to, finding it isn’t difficult. For this method, you’re going to need some apps like WiFiman, Fing, etc. We personally recommend Fing, as it is free and doesn’t run with incessant ads.
Disconnect all your devices from the network, except the phone running the Fing app. This will help reduce the number of devices you have to sort through on the network. Run the Fing app on your phone and scan the WiFi network with it.
What you should be looking for is any device with a camera manufacturer name ( common ones are Nest, Duratech, Arlo, etc), or a device with an ‘IP camera’ listing. Note down each device’s IP address, as it’ll be needed for the next step. Also, write down the IP addresses of unusual device names.
Next, scan for open ports on the Fing app. This can be accessed from the Network tab in the app. Once you click the Find Open Ports button, enter the IP addresses you noted from the WiFi scan, then click Find Open Ports. The results of this scan will show the type of ports that are open and in use. Ports like RTMP and RTSP are usually used when streaming videos, so be on the lookout for them.
2) Detecting Night Vision Cameras using Your Phone’s Camera
Night vision cameras usually possess infrared lights, as this helps them see in the dark. Most smartphone cameras usually can detect infrared lights, and you can use this to search out the possibility of a hidden night vision camera in your apartment. The front-facing camera of most smartphones generally doesn’t have an infrared light filter, which enables it to be able to detect infrared lights.
To ascertain for sure if your phone’s selfie camera can detect infrared lights, pull down the curtains in your room and put off the lights. Most TV remotes emit infrared lights when used. If your phone shows a small bright light when you point the camera at your remote, then your camera can detect infrared lights. Once you ascertain this, keep the curtains down and the lights off and slowly move your phone’s selfie camera around.
Items like smoke detectors, wall clocks, and USB chargers should be checked thoroughly. These items are among the items likely to be hosting a hidden surveillance camera. The ceiling should also be carefully scanned, as it is another area where a hidden camera can be present.
If you see a bright light on our screen that isn’t ordinarily visible to the naked eye, then it is worth checking out.
What to do after finding a Hidden Camera:
Finding a hidden camera in your home would naturally elicit a few emotions; anger, shock, even fear. These reactions are perfectly normal. However, your next course of action is dependent on you, and the circumstances. For instance, if you were to find a hidden camera you were not informed about at an AirBnB, deciding to report the host and maybe taking legal action might be the best option.
This is most likely different from what you would do if you found a hidden surveillance camera in your home.
Whatever the situation, you can decide on two main courses of action;
1) Consider Reporting the Matter to the Police
If you find a hidden surveillance camera in your home, report the incidence to the police. If you take this course of action, it is best not to touch the camera at all. This is to enable the police to dust it for fingerprints, which could give them a clue as to who put the camera there.
If they do find any clue, they will track the person down.
2) Now, Protect Yourself from a Recurrence of Spying
Knowing how to protect yourself against spying is also very important. Should you find a hidden surveillance camera in your home or rented apartment, covering the camera’s lens is the first course of action. This should be done with a piece of clothing or anything else that can be used to cover the camera lens, so as not to alert the owner of the hidden camera to your findings.
Even if you don’t plan on taking the case to court currently, documenting your finding of the hidden surveillance camera is very important to do.