Sale of spy cameras in Singapore should be regulated - private detectives

At a corner of Sim Lim Square, a shop displayed commonplace items such as clothes hooks, alarm clocks, pens, portable chargers, car keys and spectacles in a glass shelf.

Lurking in each item was an embedded pinhole camera, priced at between $60 and $220 each. The shop, Papylon Enterprises, adopts a “no questions asked” policy when selling the spy cameras.

“Usually we don’t ask them what they use it for but sometimes they tell us,” said Carol Chua, an 18-year-old sales executive of the shop, which mainly sells CCTV cameras.

Most of her customers said they use the cameras to keep an eye on their domestic helpers while others place them in their shops to catch their staff stealing items, she told Yahoo News Singapore recently. One customer even plucked out the eye of a stuffed teddy bear to fit a spy camera.

Within the first month into her job, Chua was surprised to find out that sales of the spy cameras were almost on par with that of CCTV cameras, the shop’s mainstay merchandise.

Three other shops in Sim Lim that this reporter visited were also selling spy cameras. Such cameras are also available for sale on online shopping sites such as Lazada, Qoo10 and Taobao.

The ease of getting these cameras is increasingly a source of concern as they have been used for voyeuristic reasons. They are also getting smaller in size, with the capacity to record in high definition, making them harder to detect, said private detectives that Yahoo News Singapore spoke to.

In March this year, a spy camera in the form of a clothes hook was found in a handicap toilet in the Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

In a separate incident earlier this year, a man was jailed 24 weeks for taking 61 upskirt videos of different women using a spy camera disguised as a watch.

Last July, another man attached a spy camera to his shoe to take upskirt photos of women around Takashimaya Shopping Centre and was later jailed 18 weeks.

Security experts and private detectives told Yahoo News Singapore that the sale of spy cameras should be regulated in light of the criminal cases.

Malaravan Ron, owner of SecuriState Pte Ltd, a security service provider, said that such devices should be regulated, but acknowledged that it would be challenging to enforce.

“The problem is people sell it openly and some buy it from overseas so it’s difficult to control the items because they are so small,” he said.

David Ng, director of DP Quest Investigation Consultancy, proposed that shops selling spy cameras should take down the particulars of buyers to deter them from using the devices for the wrong reasons.

But Ron said even if the particulars of buyers were taken down, tracing the source of a voyeuristic video once it is uploaded would be difficult.

Private eyes are watching you

Private detectives like Ng often use spy cameras in the course of their work to assist their clients in commercial or domestic issues such as matrimonial cases. For them, a key consideration when installing pinhole cameras in a client’s house is privacy.

“We can’t install cameras in places like the toilet. We can’t knowingly take pictures of people indecently. If you put it in a bathroom, you know for sure people are going to undress,” Ng said.

“But if you put it in a room it could be for other purpose. For example, you want to see who comes into your house, but how do I know they are going to take off their clothes and engage in any acts?” he added.

When revealing images are captured in the cameras, Ng’s firm would censor them, especially if they are presented in open court. Filming a woman in a state of undress may constitute insulting her modesty, and an offender may face a jail term of up to a year and/or a fine.

Ng clarified that private detectives get authorisation from clients to install spy cameras in their premises.

“Our intention is not voyeuristic. We are merely trying our best to collect factual evidence to support our client’s suspicions, for example, if a child is smoking or taking drugs in their room or if their maids are bringing strangers into the house,” Ng said.

James Loh, managing director of International Investigators, said that an increasing number of people are deploying spy cameras to watch their domestic helpers, especially to watch over their children.

After gathering the relevant footage, Loh would consolidate it in a written report for his clients and they would decide whether to proceed with further action.

“I always remind clients there are rules involved. At the end of day it’s up to the individual how to use it correctly,” Loh said.

Using spy cameras responsibly

During the visit to Sim Lim Square, this reporter approached a customer who was enquiring at a shop whether a spy camera he was eyeing could record continuously for up to three days.

When approached, the man declined to give his name and occupation but said that he needed video evidence to resolve a dispute between a family member and a neighbour.

“I’m aware of laws. I need a permit from the town council to install a CCTV hence I want to use a camera inside my house,” said the man. He added that he was considering using a spy camera in the shape of an alarm clock to film the area outside his flat when the front door is open.

Shop assistants that Yahoo News Singapore spoke to were aware of the stigma associated with spy cameras given that they could be misused for “dirty” purposes. One such worker at a shop in Peninsula Shopping Centre that stocked spy cameras curtly declined to be interviewed by this reporter on the subject.

Others, like Lyn Ng, a 50-years-old sales executive who works in a shop selling camera equipment in Sim Lim Square, said there was nothing wrong with the sale of spy cameras so long as they were used responsibly. For instance, security guards can use the devices to protect themselves, she added.

“It’s just like a knife, I sell you a knife if you use it in a wrong way, you have to bear (the consequences). Cutting meat is okay, but killing people is bad,” Ng said.

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