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How to Find Hidden Cameras in Your Airbnb

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Re: How to Find Hidden Cameras in Your Airbnb

#11

Or just go to a hotel! I have a condo in a building where most of the units are listed on Airbnb or Booking.com, quality of life for residents like me has been drastically reduced by noisy tourists that come for a weekend trip and have no regard for keeping it quiet or keeping the shared spaces clean. I hope more cities begin to ban Airbnb. Tourists belong in hotels not in buildings where families try to live their d…

In many cities apartments are normally owned through some kind of co-op with a board that decides things. If that’s the case then I wouldn’t buy one in a building that allows more than temporary subletting. This is the case at least in Sweden, i.e it’s pretty hard to buy-to-let, and that’s normally a good thing (also for price stability).

unfortunately people list units where it's not allowed as well.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/marketplace-airbnb-covert-l...

Re: How to Find Hidden Cameras in Your Airbnb

#12
post #2

If you are concerned about cameras in Airbnbs, consider picking up a camera detector off Amazon for ~$30. They are basically a ring of super bright LEDs with a colored lens in the middle you put up to your eye and scan around the room. The light reflects off the curved glass of the lens and the filter helps you see it. The less effective but impromptu version of this is just holding a super bright flashlight between…

These work if the camera manufacturer really doesn't care and puts the lens on the outside. However, if they do care and put a circular polarizer with an anti-reflective film on top... like your OLED phone has, then that will cut the reflection >100x. You probably won't see them and they'll only lose 50% of the light.

Re: How to Find Hidden Cameras in Your Airbnb

#13
post #2

If you are concerned about cameras in Airbnbs, consider picking up a camera detector off Amazon for ~$30. They are basically a ring of super bright LEDs with a colored lens in the middle you put up to your eye and scan around the room. The light reflects off the curved glass of the lens and the filter helps you see it. The less effective but impromptu version of this is just holding a super bright flashlight between…

Could this be improved creating an app for smartphones? They have light source and camera with zoom, so suspicious reflections can be identified for manual inspection later. Probably integrated WiFi scanner also doable. Is there market for this?

Re: How to Find Hidden Cameras in Your Airbnb

#14

Or just go to a hotel! I have a condo in a building where most of the units are listed on Airbnb or Booking.com, quality of life for residents like me has been drastically reduced by noisy tourists that come for a weekend trip and have no regard for keeping it quiet or keeping the shared spaces clean. I hope more cities begin to ban Airbnb. Tourists belong in hotels not in buildings where families try to live their d…

There are two possibilties here:

- The noise level is within the reasonable legal limit: Tourists are exercising their rights to use the condo, in the same way that the owner (main renter) could have done. Whether it's the owner making the noise or the tourists is immaterial.

- The noise levels are above the legal limits, inform them (courtesy) and then call the cops. whether it's the owner, or the tourists it's the same thing.

Re: How to Find Hidden Cameras in Your Airbnb

#16
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In many cities apartments are normally owned through some kind of co-op with a board that decides things. If that’s the case then I wouldn’t buy one in a building that allows more than temporary subletting. This is the case at least in Sweden, i.e it’s pretty hard to buy-to-let, and that’s normally a good thing (also for price stability).

unfortunately people list units where it's not allowed as well. https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/marketplace-airbnb-covert-l...

A lot of people on my floor did that when I lived in a 6000 sek/month 1 room flat outside Stockholm that required me to be an active student and still required 5 years of being in the queue for apartments which you can't sign up for until age 18.

It was impossible to study most days because of kids to illicit renters running around screaming and biking in the corridors.

Re: How to Find Hidden Cameras in Your Airbnb

#17

Or just go to a hotel! I have a condo in a building where most of the units are listed on Airbnb or Booking.com, quality of life for residents like me has been drastically reduced by noisy tourists that come for a weekend trip and have no regard for keeping it quiet or keeping the shared spaces clean. I hope more cities begin to ban Airbnb. Tourists belong in hotels not in buildings where families try to live their d…

There are two possibilties here: - The noise level is within the reasonable legal limit: Tourists are exercising their rights to use the condo, in the same way that the owner (main renter) could have done. Whether it's the owner making the noise or the tourists is immaterial. - The noise levels are above the legal limits, inform them (courtesy) and then call the cops. whether it's the owner, or the tourists it's the…

You do realize you are defending and supporting the "tragedy of the commons"

Re: How to Find Hidden Cameras in Your Airbnb

#18
post #2

If you are concerned about cameras in Airbnbs, consider picking up a camera detector off Amazon for ~$30. They are basically a ring of super bright LEDs with a colored lens in the middle you put up to your eye and scan around the room. The light reflects off the curved glass of the lens and the filter helps you see it. The less effective but impromptu version of this is just holding a super bright flashlight between…

So if you really want to hide a pinhole camera. Meow...

https://www.aliexpress.com/i/32731641924.html

Looks like an arms race easy to win.

Re: How to Find Hidden Cameras in Your Airbnb

#19
post #13
post #2

If you are concerned about cameras in Airbnbs, consider picking up a camera detector off Amazon for ~$30. They are basically a ring of super bright LEDs with a colored lens in the middle you put up to your eye and scan around the room. The light reflects off the curved glass of the lens and the filter helps you see it. The less effective but impromptu version of this is just holding a super bright flashlight between…

Could this be improved creating an app for smartphones? They have light source and camera with zoom, so suspicious reflections can be identified for manual inspection later. Probably integrated WiFi scanner also doable. Is there market for this?

With the accelermoter you could pan the room and then afterwards use that to create an AR overlay to direct you at oddities.
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