Not only in apartments but in all kinds of places: in 2019 a worker from Alicante was arrested who had installed a camera in his company’s portable toilets to record his colleagues. A hidden camera in the toilet paper holder. They put our privacy at risk and are totally illegal so we can try to detect them.
Distrust and seek
The first thing we can do is search in a conventional way without using our telephone or specific devices. There are cameras that can even be heard since they emit a slight sound when they are working. But not only that, but we can review all the devices around us and even unplug or disconnect those that seem suspicious to us. For example, if there are phone chargers that we have not carried or even in smart lampshades, “modern” picture frames or mirrors.
We can take a few minutes to review all possible openings that is in that place or room, although later we can go a step further and use our mobile phone or a specific device to help us detect them.
Another recommended option if you are in a flat or complete Airbnb is that you disconnect the router. Unplug the router if it is in a conspicuous place and forgo Wi-Fi.
Find from your mobile phone
The quickest and most urgent option is to use the mobile phone. There are several tools or options with which we can use our smartphone to know if they are spying on us. The effectiveness will depend on how elaborate the system or the type of camera is or of the installation since they can be hidden physically but also hidden in the network so it will not always be an option. In any case, we can find most of them and secure quickly.
Detect the camera on the network
If you are going to go to a hotel or an apartment, the normal thing is that you can connect to a WiFi network from this through the password that they will have given you previously. Especially in a private flat or apartment this will be especially useful if its owner is not too careful because the camera will be connected to the same network that you are going to connect to. So we need an application like Fing (free and available for iOS and Android) that allows us to scan all the devices that are connected to the same network. It is something that habitually we can see if we access the router but we will not have access to it if it is an apartment, a hotel or a house that is not ours. So we turned to Fing.
We download Fing for free on our phone or tablet and we make sure that we are connected to the network. Make sure that only that device is connected and there are no others (neither a computer nor your watch, etc) and after a few seconds it will scan and show you all the devices that are connected. When you have completed the scan, we will be able to see all the devices found. You will see your mobile or tablet in the corresponding IP but the app makes it easy for us by showing us what type of device each one is. In that case, we can see if one “Camera IP“Or if we are familiar with any of the brands that appear such as Nest, Arlo, Foscam …
It will not always be so clear so it is best to suspect devices or devices that should not be there. In addition, from Fing we can also go to a section of open ports to see if someone is watching us.
Use your phone’s camera
They will not always be connected to the same network (and it would be reckless and basic for those who want to spy) so there are some alternatives when it comes to detecting hidden cameras on the site you are on. For example, detect infrared rays. For this you will need everything to be in the dark. Most cameras use infrared for night vision and they are not perceptible to the naked eye, but they are if we use a specific tool. Or, in this case, a specific application.
Generally, the front camera of our mobile does not block the infrared (we can check it previously with the remote control or any other similar gadget) so it would be useful for this task. You turn off all the lights in the room or the place where you are and you focus the entire room to see if there is any light that makes us suspicious. Look on the walls, but it could also be that there are alarm detectors, smoke detectors, vents, or even smart gadgets like plugs, wireless chargers.
Use specific apps
In addition, there are specific applications that allow us to search for electromagnetic fields, although they will not always work, but it can be useful as an alternative method to the previous ones. They explain it from their description in the store: “You have to move the application and when it rings it is because you have found the position ”. Detects infrared lights and we just have to look for the white lights that appear on the screen. If the camera does not do it by default, we can force it with these applications.
There are options whether we want to use them on iOS or if you want to download them on Android, although you should first look at all the details and comments from other users since it is common for there to be apps that try to scam us.
Using specific devices
There are specific devices that allow us to detect hidden cameras or security cameras. This will not help you if you are looking to detect it at a specific time when you are in a hurry (you suspect that you are in an apartment and they are watching you or you think there is a camera in a bathroom, for example) but you can do it if the problem is medium or long term and you want to know what is happening.
In many online stores we can find devices that have the function of detecting hidden cameras. In AliExpress we can find them for less than ten euros, although it will depend on the model itself, the characteristics or how it works. Most of them allow us to detect radiation signals and work with an LED light that tells us that there is something close to that point. In this case, the hidden camera.
Video surveillance cameras that use networks such as Bluetooth or Wifi emit a radio frequency signal so one of the options is that we use signal detectors to find hidden cameras and other recording devices. Although, as we have said before, you will not be sure to find them in all cases and there may be exceptions that are better hidden or are not detected correctly.
But there are also tiny infrared detectors that we can use if we are suspicious. They are very small and ideal to take anywhere. Some connect via USB C to your mobile phone and feature an LED light and a filter through which we can look to inspect the entire room and see if someone is spying on us. In addition, they are cheap and easy to transport but we have to bear in mind that it will not work with any type of camera.