Dystopia watch: Guide to spotting hidden cameras in your Airbnb

If you're worried that your Airbnb host has hidden a camera in the place you've rented, because that is a thing that garbage people do, you can use these handy tips to spot it.

Mostly they boil down to "look hard" but the top tip is to turn off the lights and use a flashlight to spot glimmering lenses.

If you are really hell bent on preventing hidden devices from invading your privacy, you can invest in a hidden device detector. Cameras that use Bluetooth or Wi-Fi to send or receive data will emit an RF signal. You can purchase an RF signal detector to pick up those signals and then locate a hidden camera. This RF signal detector, for instance, costs about $25 on Amazon and has five modes to help locate hidden surveillance devices: Laser detection, vibration (mute) detection, beep detection, LED display detection, and headset mode.

You can buy other detectors for anywhere between $20 and upwards of $300. It just depends on the features and quality you're looking for in a device scanner. No RF device is going to find hidden cameras 100 percent of the time though. If a camera is recording but not sending the data out, an RF detector will not pick up on the camera.

You can also install certain apps on your phone that can scan for hidden cameras. These apps, like Hidden Camera Detector, may not be as accurate as an RF scanner, but for under $5 you can give them a try.

How to find hidden cameras in your Airbnb rental [Erika Rawes/Digital Trends]

(via Naked Capitalism)

(Image: Cryteria, CC-BY)