ESTHER HARWARD
DOMINION
Surveillance cameras are nearly impossible to detect and increasing numbers of people are using them.
Hamilton security firm Cactus says more people are getting hidden «pinhole» cameras in their homes to monitor security.
Technical manager Jake Taylor said in five years he had received just one «odd» request — which he refused. It was illegal to hide cameras in public toilets and changing rooms. The man jailed this week for molesting his daughters and using a pinhole camera to spy on them in the bathroom put his camera in a light fitting, but they are equally simple to fit into a wall.
Mr Taylor said someone looking at a hidden camera would see a speck the size of the nib of a ballpoint pen.
«You only need to drill about a two to three millimetre hole in the surface you want to put it in. It has a very wide field of view, so when you put it up against an object and drill a smaller hole, it captures a great deal of what you’re looking at,» he said.
«If you want to take a bit of time and pay attention to detail, it wouldn’t be awkward for anybody with reasonable hand skills to conceal a camera.»
It was easy and cheap to buy camera gear and computer software from retail outlets or the internet. The equipment cost about $200 and getting a professional to do the installation cost about another $100.
In another case this week, a Napier man employed by a security firm in June 2004 to install cameras in shops and businesses in Hastings secretly stashed a surveillance camera to film his partner and her 15-year-old step-sister undressing and taking showers.
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CAPTION:
YOU’RE ON CAMERA: Technician Jake Taylor says hidden cameras are surprisingly easy to set up. PICTURE: Bruce Mercer
March 20, 2006
