When Bad Things Happen to Hidden Cameras
By Michael Antonoff
A surveillance camera is meant to capture nasty people doing bad things. But what happens when bad things happen to the camera?
Consider the miniaturized camcorder concealed in an everyday object like a 16-ounce water bottle. This reconnaissance tool melded with actual thirst-quenching capabilities is for sale all over the Internet. It’s among hundreds of household objects that are not what they seem.
Since a water bottle is commonly carried by those who like to accessorize their thinness, flaunting one is unlikely to raise suspicions. It sure looks like it came from a shrink-wrapped 24-pack at Stop & Shop. But what causal observers don’t see is that the container’s plastic has been specially molded with an exterior cavity to accommodate a tiny camera separate from the water chamber. The camera compartment is concealed behind a peel-back label. A pinhole in an “a” of the Aquafina name or the “D” in Dasani affords an unobstructed through-the-lens view of your pig-of-a-boss.
Set the bottle down on his desk to record anticipated misbehavior while the two of you are alone, and the miniature electronics will record all the proof you’ll need dryly and discreetly. Just remember to take the bottle with you. If he finds it later, he may feel compelled to crumple it up and toss it in the trash — not because he knows it contains damaging evidence — but it’s a disposable bottle not even nickel redeemable.
Cameras are not meant to be thrown away like a coffee cup lid. Oops. Bad example. You can buy cameras hidden in plastic lids, too, though depending how hot the coffee, the lens may fog over, making scenes steamier than they seem.
Hidden cameras that masquerade as other things don’t always perform as they pretend. While you can refill a bottle-cam from the tap and chugalug (hold the nostrils closeups, please!), there’s no room in a faux smoke detector to house a camera and alarm, too. So, when it comes to alerting you to a fire, that covert camera on the ceiling in your creepy Airbnb rental may as well be a fly on the wall. And a lawsuit waiting to happen.
Hidden cameras are often referred to as nanny cams. That’s because parents who go to work need reassurance that they can trust the stranger hired to look after their children. So, they install hidden-cameras in every room: a wall clock for the kitchen, a clock radio for the nursery, a rock-cam for the patio. There’s even the battery-powered, Wi-Fi-enabled Teddy-cam. Electronics are embedded in a variety of plush toys.
The problem with these too-portable-for-their-own good “toys” is that they don’t stay where the parents placed them. What child wouldn’t snatch it from the perch where it had been left specifically for its commanding view and toss it around? They grab it. Stomp on it. Push it around. When tired of playing with it, the child haphazardly leaves Teddy-cam face down on the couch, its high-def camera recording nothing but out-of-focus upholstery instead of possible predatory behavior.
