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If you are concerned about cameras in Airbnbs, consider picking up a camera detector off Amazon for ~$30. They are basically a ring of super bright LEDs with a
by dsl 7y ago
If you are concerned about cameras in Airbnbs, consider picking up a camera detector off Amazon for ~$30.
They are basically a ring of super bright LEDs with a colored lens in the middle you put up to your eye and scan around the room. The light reflects off the curved glass of the lens and the filter helps you see it.
The less effective but impromptu version of this is just holding a super bright flashlight between your eyes (facing out), but you kinda need to have to done it before to know what to look for.
- miguelmota 7y agoCan you share a link of one that you recommend?
- dsl 7y agoIf you search Amazon for "camera detector" there are multiple vendors selling one that has the form factor of a Zippo lighter. This is the professional version (~$1500), for comparison: https://www.selcomsecurity.com/en/products/data-leakage-channels-detection/item/436-hidden-camera-detector-optic-2 https://www.selcomsecurity.com/en/products/data-leakage-chan...
- amelius 7y agoWould it detect a pinhole camera?
- kurthr 7y agoThese work if the camera manufacturer really doesn't care and puts the lens on the outside. However, if they do care and put a circular polarizer with an anti-reflective film on top... like your OLED phone has, then that will cut the reflection >100x. You probably won't see them and they'll only lose 50% of the light.
- 52-6F-62 7y agoWould polarized sunglasses work in that case then? I regularly get a shimmer from any LCD or OLED phone when on the town
- kurthr 7y agoNo, unfortunately circular polarizers kill any specular reflection that goes in. To do them you need a wide spectrum 45 deg phase delay film on top of the polarizer. You can buy the circular polarizer film, but note that it has a front/back (it's not symmetric). Another confusing attack is to put a camera behind a much larger half-slivered mirror... that does the job too because everything reflects... add a circular polarizer to that :^\
- lnsru 7y agoCould this be improved creating an app for smartphones? They have light source and camera with zoom, so suspicious reflections can be identified for manual inspection later. Probably integrated WiFi scanner also doable. Is there market for this?
- noir_lord 7y agoWith the accelermoter you could pan the room and then afterwards use that to create an AR overlay to direct you at oddities.
- Cthulhu_ 7y agoThere was a video clip the other day showing just this - it was basically a plastic sheet / filter you could hold over your phone's camera and flashlight that made camera lenses stand out.
- dsl 7y agoNot really. White light doesn't work as well as flashing red and green.
- pvaldes 7y agoSo if you really want to hide a pinhole camera. Meow... https://www.aliexpress.com/i/32731641924.html https://www.aliexpress.com/i/32731641924.html Looks like an arms race easy to win.
- Tade0 7y agoTo that I raise you this: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonlinear_junction_detector https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonlinear_junction_detector Expensive, but surely there's someone providing such a service nearby?
- userbinator 7y agoThat will basically pick up every piece of electronic equipment in the room. Given that cameras can be hidden in them too, and that you'd have to take apart each one to be sure, I don't think a NLJD will tell you much. They were developed at a time when electronic equipment was far less common, so the presence of electronics was more suspicious; now, you can come across things like deeply embedded RFID tags (only used for inventory tracking) in otherwise completely non-electronic products.
- dsl 7y agoYou are correct, they pick up a lot. But depending on the type of engagement, you just end up taking apart every single thing with a circuit in it anyway. There are defeats for nonlinear detectors, like a three port circulator with a resistor. In turn there are more advanced detection methods, but now you are getting in to tools not publicly available.
- kitd 7y agoIIRC, most smartphone cameras can clearly detect IR, so another option is to wait til dusk, or darken the room, then scan it through your smartphone camera looking for pinpoints of light that show the IR bulb. Ofc, doesn't work with cameras that don't have IR.
- m-p-3 7y agoMost smartphones have an IR filter on the back camera, but don't on the front camera. A good way to test that is by using an old-fashioned TV remote with an IR emitter and look for it to glow when pressing a button. It's a good way to test the batteries too!