HIDDEN CAMERAS
This book is for everyone who might use secret filming to expose wrongdoing…and for everyone who supports them, everyone who is affected by them and everyone who is interested in them. In other words, it’s for everyone.
HIDDEN CAMERAS
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT
COVERT RECORDING,
UNDERCOVER CAMERAS
AND SECRET FILMING
Joe Plomin
Jessica Kingsley Publishers London and Philadelphia
First published in 2016
by Jessica Kingsley Publishers
73 Collier Street
London N1 9BE, UK
and
400 Market Street, Suite 400
Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA
Copyright © Joe Plomin 2016
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form (including photocopying or storing it in any medium by electronic means and whether or not transiently or incidentally to some other use of this publication) without the written permission of the copyright owner except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 or under the terms of a licence issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Applications for the copyright owner’s written permission to reproduce any part of this publication should be addressed to the publisher.
Warning: The doing of an unauthorised act in relation to a copyright work may result in both a civil claim for damages and criminal prosecution.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Plomin, Joe.
Hidden cameras : everything you need to know about covert recording, undercover cameras and secret
filming / Joe Plomin.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-1-84905-643-4 (alk. paper)
1. Electronic surveillance. 2. Hidden camera photography. 3. Undercover operations. I. Title.
TK7882.E2P578 2015
621.36’7--dc23
2015024295
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978 1 84905 643 4
eISBN 978 1 78450 136 5
CONTENTS
The History of Infiltration and Covert Recording
Secret Filming Using a Covert Camera
Eek! Nearly Being Discovered
3.USING A PHONE CAMERA SECRETLY
Covert Recording Using a Mobile or Cellular Telephone
Sneaky Phone Filming
Ethical Dilemmas: Privacy, the Public Interest and Deception
Victorian Infiltrations: Heroes and Anti-Heroes
Secret Filming and the Law
Whistle-blowers: Threats and Fears
The Challenges That Most Often Surprise People
Stories of Physical and Emotional Pain
What Happens After the Camera Is Switched Off
Secret Filming in Care Homes
The Next Generation of Covert Cameras and the Future of Secret Filming
Back to the Future: Old Problems, New Cameras
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Many kind and generous people have helped this book along. Special thanks are due to: Philip Abrams, Malcolm Balen, Kevin Biderman, Joe Casey, Eileen Chubb, Roger Courtiour, Sheila Cracknell, John Davison, Clive Edwards, Jim Gray, Andrew Head, James Hellings, John Hession, Alison Holt, Wendy Inchley, Roger Law, Roger Mahony, Mandy Mugford, Robert Plomin, Tamanna Rahman, Joshua Sallon, Russell Sharp, Frank Simmonds, Ceri Thomas, Karen Wightman, Joyce Zannoni, numerous necessarily anonymous whistle-blowers, and finally, most importantly,