Hidden cameras: what are your rights?

Tuesday, 19 February 2019

Michael Kouk and a bridesmaid discovered a light bulb with a spy camera at a rental home in west Auckland.

Are you being watched by hidden cameras in rental holiday homes?

The issue has been highlighted after unsuspecting guests at a holiday rental discovered a hidden camera in a light bulb. The bridal party and wedding photographer discovered the device in Taupaki, west Auckland after they heard a buzzing sound and noticed the lightbulb was on a funny angle, and had a black dot on it.

The rental listing on booking.com, which is advertised as a farm stay 30km from Auckland, has been posted on Facebook multiple times, with the a person from the bridal party warning others to avoid it.

It's a phenomenon that has some precedence with reports from both Britain and the United States of Airbnb guests that have spotted hidden cameras in their rental properties.

* Channel your inner 007 at auction of Soviet spy cameras

* Eye on the spies: Hamilton City Council on pervert alert**

But is it legal?

Planting hidden cameras is illegal in New Zealand, associate professor of commercial law and privacy expert Gehan Nilendra Gunasekara said.

Installation of a camera like the one found in Taupaki, which was located in the centre of the open dining room and connected living room, could be motivated by previous negative experiences with guests that damaged the property or stole items, or in some other way breached the terms and conditions.

But a host still would not be within their rights to install a camera in these circumstances.

'You’d be looking for very strange objects, like if the smoke alarm is in a funny place. Use a bit of common sense to pick out something weird,' business director at Bug Sweep Daniel Toreson said.

'You can't install a hidden camera on the off-chance that somebody might do something illegal, that's simply not allowed,' Gunasekara said.

He said landlords who installed spy cameras could be tried in criminal and civil courts, depending on the severity of the offence.

If guests were filmed in a bathroom, there was an expectation of privacy and it was considered a serious criminal offence under the intimate filming provisions of the Crimes Act, Gunasekara said.

It would also be possible to make a claim against the company that rented the property out because there was an 'implied term' to privacy in a rental property, he said.

The ready availability of hidden recording devices was an issue, private investigator Daniel Toreson said.

While the number of items being purchased is small, individuals intent on recording people without their knowledge could find these items without restriction.

'If you look on OzSpy or any of these websites that sell hidden cameras and you'll see cameras you can put in tissue boxes or in mirrors and things like that. They're almost imperceptible, you can't tell there's a camera in there. You could look right at it, right next to it and you won't see the camera. So it's a real concern,' the Bug Sweeps business director said.

He said one option for those renting a holiday home was to spend some time checking for cameras on arrival. But with some lenses as small as just 2mm in diameter, it would be really hard to find them without specialist equipment.

'You can literally drill a hole as small as a pinprick and put the camera behind that,' he said.

He said the most common spy cameras and the ones to look out for awere unusual-looking coat hooks with a black dot, especially in a bathroom or bedroom, or unusual tissue boxes or clocks.

'The really devious ones are found in bathrooms and bedrooms,' Toreson said.

If a host wanted to install security cameras they would need to be clearly signposted and the guests would also need to be alerted at the time of booking that the premises were monitored by cameras, he said.

Trade Me spokesman Logan Mudge said there were currently 23 listings on the site for spy camera lightbulbs.

Lightbulb spy cameras could be legally sold in New Zealand but like many items, they could be used improperly, Mudge said.

'We strictly forbid these items to be advertised in any way that implies they could be used illegally, such as making intimate digital recordings.'If we see anyone breaking this rule, we'll remove the listing and warn the seller. We will consider banning them if we think that's appropriate too.'

An Airbnb spokesman said hosts could disclose surveillance devices in their home when listing their property on the site.

The information was automatically included in the house rules. Hosts were required to identify devices and if they would be recording during the reservation.

The company took its privacy issues 'extremely seriously', the spokesman said.

'Such devices are never permitted in private spaces of the listing, such as bathrooms, bedrooms or other sleeping areas.'

Booking.com, where the west Auckland rental home is advertised, and Bookabach have been approached for comment.

A police spokeswoman said police was not aware of any reports being made about the lightbulb spy camera but it was looking into the matter.

Anyone with concerns about the use of surveillance cameras should report it as soon possible, the spokeswoman said.