Someone is taking a bath, and a group of hundreds of people "quietly watch" live
Reporter undercover investigation camera candid photos of black industry chain
● With the continuous crackdown by relevant departments, the business of offline trading of pinholes or micro-cameras has reduced a lot than before, but online sales are booming.
This business about secret photography is changing from bright to dark, and the black industry chain is still surging underneath.
● Secretly photographed groups are distributed all over the country. The targets of secretly photographing are not only young women, men and the elderly may become their "prey", and the pictures or videos obtained by secretly photographing are used for large-scale profit.
● The platform bears the “knowledge” or “knowledge” legal responsibility for the sale of micro and mini cameras, especially cameras that may be used for secret photography; sellers also need to bear the main responsibility for this.
If the buyer purchases the device and uses it to spy on the privacy of others, record the screen or spread it out, it shall be determined according to the specific purpose and may bear civil or criminal liability
□ Trainee reporter Zhang Shoukun
□ Our reporter Han Dandong
At 2 o'clock in the morning on December 10, a woman walked into the bathroom to undress and take a bath.
As everyone knows, there is a camera hidden in the exhaust vent above the bathroom, which is working.
This is the beginning of a candid live broadcast seen by a reporter from the Rule of Law Daily in a chat group. If you want to continue watching, you have to pay to enter the live broadcast group.
Even though it was late at night, there were still hundreds of people staying in the live broadcast group to "quietly watch" this lady.
In recent years, the use of cameras has become more and more widespread, and many people have installed cameras in their homes.
However, this market is being targeted by some criminals who use hacking techniques to hack and control home cameras, convert surveillance cameras into hidden camera equipment, sell scanning and cracking camera software, or secretly install cameras in hotel rooms, rental houses and other places. And sell the secret pictures that are secretly photographed for profit.
What's more, candid photos are taken in toilets, subways, buses and other places through mobile phones or modified equipment.
In a large chat group, "toilet photo maps" in many cities across the country were also sold.
In fact, in recent years, relevant state departments have been continuously increasing their crackdowns on secret photography and illegal sales of related equipment.
In addition to the rigidity of law and law enforcement, many anti-candid shooting techniques and software equipment have emerged as the times require.
The contest between equipment sellers and sneak shots has been going on to combat and prevent sneak shots.
Equipment sales turn from bright to dark
Variety of modification and customization
With the continuous crackdown by relevant departments, the business of offline buying and selling of pinholes or micro-cameras has converged a lot.
"Do you want to buy a pinhole camera? This thing is illegal and not allowed to be sold. The same goes for you to ask elsewhere." On December 14, a reporter from the Rule of Law Daily went to a large digital plaza in Tianjin to consult about pinhole. Or the sales of miniature cameras, a store clearly responded like this.
In the next few days, the reporter visited a number of digital stores in Tianjin, as well as street-side computer maintenance, monitoring and installation shops, and most of the shopkeepers directly gave negative answers after hearing this.
Unlike offline sales, the business of selling sneaky cameras online is booming.
The business of secret photography is changing from bright to dark, and the black industry chain is still surging.
After searching on multiple e-commerce platforms, the reporter found that there are many shops selling pinholes or miniature cameras: lighters, U disks, car keys with night vision, high-definition video glasses, power banks, and even Daily necessities such as facial cleanser, electronic alarm clock, razor, Bluetooth speaker, and perpetual calendar have all been converted into cameras to become hidden camera equipment.
Sellers claim that these cameras can be used for long standby times and can be monitored remotely.
Some sellers told reporters that these "daily items" are not easy to be noticed because their basic functions are not affected, and the price ranges from a few hundred to two thousand yuan.
A mobile phone camera customization seller said that the modified mobile phone looks the same as a normal mobile phone. The camera is located on the earphone, side, etc., even if the mobile phone is placed flat on the table, the objects next to it can be clearly photographed. The mobile phone is priced at one or two thousand yuan.
If the buyer mails his mobile phone to be modified, it only costs 120 yuan. "This modified mobile phone is mainly used for sneak shots in subways, stairs, toilets and other places, and few people find it."
In addition to selling sneak shot equipment, the reporter's investigation found that there are still people selling camera IDs, and they can buy hundreds of IDs for one or two hundred yuan.
Nowadays, the passwords of many home cameras have not been modified, and the initial default user names and passwords are used. If someone obtains these camera IDs, they can watch the real-time images of surveillance videos.
In a chat group, some sellers claim that you can buy and watch 30 cameras for family beds, family toilets, SPA massage shops, locker rooms, and hotels for only 220 yuan. You can buy 60 cameras for 320 yuan and 420 yuan. Buy 100 units.
The higher the price, the more private and targeted the location of the camera, including rental houses, dance studios, and kindergarten teacher lounges.
The reporter learned from professionals that the above-mentioned seller’s "operating secret" is to use the security camera’s vulnerabilities to scan the entire network for devices with weak passwords, and to use software programs with mobile phone Trojan horses to gain unauthorized access to the surveillance cameras. So as to remotely control the surveillance camera, realize the function of online watching and playback of surveillance video.
This situation often occurs with simple user name and password settings, copycats, or small-brand products.
Some sellers "hide abroad" to avoid risks.
A seller named "Mr. Fish" sells various pinhole cameras. In order to avoid risks, he has developed a lot of "offline" responsible for the delivery of goods.
The reporter spent 300 yuan to buy a USB-type pinhole camera, but was told the next day that the downline responsible for the delivery "may have been arrested", but he was not worried about being "confessed" because he was "absent" domestic".
In terms of payment methods, some sellers also try to avoid direct transfer payments, mostly in the form of password red envelopes.
The reporter found that in addition to the sneak shot equipment, there are also some apps that can be used for sneak shots.
For example, "Security Camera" has a powerful secret shooting function, supports the function of shooting on the user's mobile phone lock screen and running in the background, supports silent and background shooting, and all the photos or videos taken support private storage.
At present, the application has been removed from major application stores.
The candid group is very large
Picture and video clearly marked price
Who on earth is taking photos secretly?
Several chat groups undercover reporters found that the current sneak shot group has become more and more detailed, and the division of labor is clear: some specialize in toilet photography, some specialize in hotel photography, and secretly film live broadcasts.
These chat groups range from dozens of people to tens of thousands of people.
There are more than 30,000 people in an overseas group that the reporter joined, and a large number of members enter or leave the group every day.
Some chat groups are selling "toilet photo maps" in many cities across the country.
A group owner told reporters that he has "treasure places" in large, medium and small cities across the country, many of which have passed "verification."
The so-called treasure land is a place that is convenient for sneak shots in the toilet and is not easy to be found; verification means that someone sneaks a shot in the toilet here and uploads a video picture.
The reporter noticed that these groups are very active. Group members are distributed across the country. Many people will look for "partners" in the group to sneak photos or share "treasure places."
The objects they secretly photographed are not only young women, men and the elderly may become their "prey."
According to a sneak shot in the group, counties in some small cities are “suitable for sneak shots of toilets” because there are more old-fashioned toilets here, with large door openings, and cleaning staff will not clean them frequently.
"I have sneaked into the women's bathroom for several times, but I haven't been spotted."
The reporter spent 50 yuan to buy a "toilet photo map" of a certain place, and found that each place above was marked with detailed precautions, such as "good lighting, pay attention to cleaning", "outsiders can enter casually, and the catch is not strict. "From 11 am to 2 pm, cleaning does not go to work" and so on.
The seller also promised that if there are updates in the future, they will tell the reporter in time, and if the reporter has a good toilet film "treasure land", he can also tell him.
The reporter asked the administrator of a certain group and learned that entering the recording group requires a fee of 200 yuan, which includes the complete video from 2016 to the recent past.
In the live broadcast group, the location of the sneak shot is different, and the price is also different. Generally, it is 200 to 500 yuan. The buyer can spend money to specify the place where the sneak shot is to be watched; after payment, download the software provided by the other party and log in to the account to see the specified The specific scene of the place.
Many sneak shots do not use domestic software, but communicate anonymously through foreign social software. Most people use abbreviations, code names, and voices to avoid keywords such as “sneak shots” and “pinhole cameras”.
If there is a demand for resources, it can only be done through private chat or private message to the group leader.
There is also a group that specializes in secretly taking pictures of others who have disappeared. They use upskirts to photograph private parts.
The reporter found that the foreign social software has a total of 90,000 "fans", and the new group of "fans" can receive 100G welfare video pictures.
The locations of sneak shots are not limited to hotels, locker rooms, and toilets. There are also people who use sewer maintenance or sneak into rental houses to install sneak shots. There are also groups that specialize in shooting flight attendants on airplanes and shooting students in schools.
The pictures or videos obtained by secret shooting are used to make huge profits.
In multiple chat groups, these pictures or videos are clearly marked. As long as they range from a few yuan to a few hundred yuan, you can watch hundreds of "works"; you can also pay 88 yuan, 128 yuan or other amounts at one time Entering the VIP group, you can not only see the current resources, but also the resources updated in the future can be watched for free; if you bring your own "original works", you can also avoid the membership fee.
Governance needs to be increased
The black industry chain urgently needs to be cut off
Facing the hidden and powerful industry chain of sneak photography, it is very important for individuals to enhance their awareness of anti-sneak photography and master anti-sneak photography techniques.
Public information shows that there are currently four popular anti-sneak shooting techniques for finding small cameras: close the curtains, turn off the lights, use the mobile phone camera to take a circle to find red light; download various anti-sneak shooting apps for detection; purchase signal detectors for detection; Use a thermal imager or other professional anti-candid camera equipment.
The reporter noticed that the results of the evaluation of the above anti-candid shooting techniques by a third-party evaluation agency showed that: because most candid photographers have switched to cameras that do not reflect light or emit infrared rays, and the places where the cameras are hidden are becoming more and more concealed. The first anti-candid shooting technique basically fails.
The "anti-sneak shooting" gimmicks of those anti-sneak shooting apps and signal detectors are more prominent and have little practical effect.
Although the thermal imager works well, the cost is very high. A thermal imager costs thousands of dollars, and a better anti-candid camera device costs more than tens of thousands of dollars. Some cameras require specific equipment to detect.
In recent years, relevant state departments have been continuously increasing their efforts to crack down on sneak shots and illegal sales of related equipment.
Article 283 of my country’s Criminal Law stipulates that anyone who illegally produces or sells special spy equipment or special equipment for wiretapping or photo-theft shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention or surveillance, and a fine or a fine; if the circumstances are serious, the punishment shall be imposed. Fixed-term imprisonment for not less than three years but not more than seven years, and a fine.
Even just installing similar equipment may be suspected of breaking the law.
Article 42 of the Public Security Administration Punishment Law of my country stipulates that anyone who voyeuristically, secretly photographs, eavesdrops, or spreads the privacy of others shall be detained for less than 5 days or a fine of less than 500 yuan; if the circumstances are serious, detention for more than 5 days but less than 10 days may be imposed. Impose a fine of less than 500 yuan.
From May to August this year, the Central Cyberspace Administration of China, in conjunction with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Public Security, and the State Administration of Market Supervision, carried out a nationwide centralized control of camera peeping and black property. The public security organs arrested 59 criminal suspects and seized eavesdropping photos. More than 1,500 sets of equipment.
On December 2, the Changzhou police in Jiangsu reported to destroy the black industry chain behind a camera secretly filming and arrested 37 criminal suspects in 14 provinces and cities across the country.
Chen Siyu, a policeman from the Internet Security Brigade of the Changzhou Municipal Economic Development Public Security Bureau, told reporters that if a camera is installed inside a hotel, it will be treated as the crime of illegal use of special equipment for wiretapping and photo theft; for simple sales and exchange of family camera accounts, it will be treated as illegally controlling the computer information system. Crime treatment.
In order to control problematic apps, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology recently organized inspections of 18 industry-representative video surveillance cloud platforms, and discovered a number of high-risk vulnerabilities such as handling ultra vires operations; comprehensively investigated the security risks of networked cameras and found 4 More than 10,000 camera vulnerabilities such as weak passwords, unauthorized access, remote command execution, etc., obtained evidence and dealt with more than 500.
In the view of Zhu Wei, deputy director of the Communication Law Research Center of China University of Political Science and Law, managers of hotels and other places should fulfill the obligation of safety protection.
The cost of anti-candid shooting equipment is high for consumers, but it is low for hotels. Hotels can conduct self-correction and self-examination before and after opening a room. If a pinhole camera is found in the hotel, the relevant person will be fined and other penalties.
Relevant departments should also strengthen the inspections of the security work in the worst-hit areas such as hotels, so that the pinhole cameras will be hidden from view.
The interviewed experts believe that the platform bears the "knowledge" or "knowledge" legal responsibility for the sale of micro and mini cameras, especially cameras that may be used for secret photography; sellers also need to bear the main responsibility for this.
If the buyer purchases the equipment and uses it to spy on the privacy of others, record the screen or spread it out, it shall be determined according to the specific purpose and may bear civil or criminal liability.
The core point is whether the relevant equipment has a substantive and legitimate purpose.
"Platforms and relevant regulatory authorities must strengthen monitoring through key information screening and other methods to cut off the candid camera industry chain." Zhu Wei said.