SPRING, Texas – After a Spring ISD janitor was arrested, accused of placing cameras in two staff bathrooms at an elementary school, KPRC 2 spoke with a local digital forensics company president about steps you can take to protect yourself from hidden cameras.
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Hidden cameras could be lurking anywhere, from a school bathroom to a hotel room or a rented vacation home.
“Sometimes, they’re hard to find ... you really have to know what you’re looking for,” Gary Huestis said. “If it’s in a place you’re familiar with and there’s a new smoke detector, a new clock radio, something like that, that kind of piques your attention, then take a closer look at it.”
An example he shared was a USB charger with two charging ports, but in between them, it had a tiny hidden camera that looked like a light.
A cheap, easy way to find a hidden camera device is using a detector with bright LED lights, which help make a camera lens more reflective. The lights have to be pretty closely aligned with the angle of the camera lens in order to see any type of reflection, KPRC 2 learned while doing a demonstration with Huestis.
Huestis also gave this advice, pay attention to your surroundings.
“Look for things that don’t look quite right. You know, if it’s an area like, you know, a bathroom or a shower and there usually doesn’t need to be a smoke detector in a shower,” Huestis said. “If you see something that doesn’t look quite right, then take a closer look at it or if you’re not sure, if it’s in the bathroom and you can hang a towel over it or something like that. And, you know, just if you’re not sure, take some extra steps to protect your privacy.”