Perverts hooked on spying
Kelly Ip
Monday, May 19, 2014
Using a public toilet when nature calls or changing clothes when you're not in the privacy of your home is no longer safe for women.
That peg for hanging your undies may conceal a spy camera.
For several years now, the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong has been pointing to black spots for up-skirt cameramen.
Now the DAB has found that the latest trend is the Peeping Tom camera. Such devices are being installed by perverts in changing rooms and other public facilities.
They are designed as clothes hooks, smoke detectors, light bulbs and plugs.
Sneaky devices to capture intimate parts and private moments can also be found in sunglasses, pens and what appear to be packets of chewing gum.
It was a spy camera concealed within a clothes-hanging hook in a restroom for women staff on the MTR's Ma On Shan line that was the focus for the DAB Women's Affairs Committee, though the rail operator has denied there was such a find.
Such devices are readily available and relatively cheap, with prices ranging from a few hundred dollars to about HK$1,000, says the DAB panel.
Most models can be found in Apliu Street in Sham Shui Po.
A video camera concealed in what appears to be a smoke detector is at the lower end of the price range, selling for HK$500.
"It's installed on a ceiling, and the video can be transmitted via wi-fi to another device for real-time surveillance," DAB lawmaker Elizabeth Quat said.
But the hanger-hook appears to be the most popular in the underhand line, selling for HK$800.
Some devices have a built-in memory card and battery. The battery can last for hours and record videos once the power is on. The video can then be viewed on computers or mobile devices.
Quat said women should try to avoid using public changing rooms .
"If you have no choice, you should first check whether there is any suspicious device," she warned. "Once a video is uploaded on the internet, then it's for life."
Indeed, she said, some sneak videos have been uploaded to the internet and can now be found with a search engine.
She urged authorities to amend ordinances covering such intrusions into privacy, including opening the way for heavier penalties when snoopers are found.
There needs to be monitoring of the spy-camera tricks and places where they could be sited, she said, with authorities checking regularly for devices at locations it controls or in public places.
Police came across 110 cases of upskirt photo-taking last year compared with 101 in 2012 and 78 in 2011.
Taking such photographs is covered under the loitering ordinance, and convictions can lead to up to six months in prison and a fine of HK$10,000.
But there could be a charge of disorderly conduct in a public place, which carries punishment of up to 12 months in prison and a fine of HK$5,000.
