New Zealand, West Auckland: A bridal party rented a holiday home online, to prepare for a wedding. However, it turned out that their rental unit had a 360-degree camera concealed inside a light bulb. The New Zealand Herald reported that it was capable of recording sound and video. Bridesmaid Sarah Muir told the NZ Herald that they "were pretty violated. If we hadn't have found that, we would have been getting changed in there the next day."
Bridal party in New Zealand found the camera in the lounge, dining area
Stuff News reported that photographer Michael Kouk went to the rental accommodation on Friday to meet with the bridal party.
When they discovered the concealed camera, it was located in an open-plan lounge-come-dining area. However, the party of people could not discover any other hidden cameras. For all they knew, there could have been one elsewhere. The party of people were so concerned that they changed in the bathroom.
Discussing the incident with TVNZ1’s Breakfast show on Sunday, Kathryn Dalziel, a privacy consultant, said that it's not the "first time" this sort of thing happened. She noted that there's cause for concern as it's illegal to Film people in underwear. In fact, if that had happened, the guests in the rental could have "laid a complaint" with the police. However, the bridal party made their protest to the Privacy Commissioner.
360-degree camera allegedly found in rental booked via Booking.com
The home that contained a secret camera that could reveal a 360-degree view was allegedly in a home advertised on Booking.com. Both the NZ Herald and Stuff News mentioned that particular online accommodation site. However, Otago Daily Times wrote that the party of people were "angry after discovering a camera hidden in a light bulb at their Airbnb accommodation." It should be noted that Airbnb and Booking.com have separate websites.
In any event, Booking.com was approached by Stuff for comment.
What concerned the bridesmaid who spoke to NZ Herald, was the fact that next day they would have been using the accommodation to get ready for the wedding. She was horrified at the potential privacy invasion. She also mentioned that they found the camera after watching a news segment about "a man who put double-sided mirrors in his bathroom." Weirded out by that, they checked and discovered the camera inside the light bulb.
It had a black dot in the centre of it. The cameraman told Stuff that it made a slight whining sound.
Concealed cameras must be declared to guests of rental homes
In New Zealand, cameras inside homes must be declared to guests. If not, they face the possibility of charges of invasion of privacy. In this instance, the guests allegedly were not informed about its presence. What do you think of the news that if you book a rental accommodation unit online in New Zealand, there may be a concealed camera recording what you do? Have your say in the comments section.
