In a shocking turn of events, Union Minister Smriti Irani spotted a hidden CCTV at a Fab India store in Goa, that was angled towards the trial room. Irani, who was on a holiday with her family, raised alarm. She called BJP MLA in Calangute, Michael Lobo, who reached the outlet along with the police. He lodged a complaint on her behalf.
Police found a CCTV camera installed in the ventilation unit of the trial room. “The camera was installed outside the changing room, but it seemed to have a view of the inside,” a police inspector, Nilesh Rane told HT.
“The camera was placed in a mischievous place and there is footage of women changing clothes,” Lobo said.
As a result of this incident, many women are worried about similar illegal recordings, which may take place while they are out shopping. At times like this, it seems online shopping does have its merits. But rather than giving up the joy of shopping in a mall altogether, arm yourself with these basic techniques to identify any hidden cameras or any other violation of your privacy.
1. Before entering the trial room, give a quick cursory glance to see if any of the CCTVs installed near the trial rooms are pointed towards the trial room. Also check to see if the door to the trial room is fully opaque/boarded/curtained and does not have slits/peepholes in it. If it does, then either avoid the trial room or cover the slits even if it is sitting high up on the door, with your bag or some other cloth.
2. Upon entering the trial room, check inside the ventilator. The lens of a hidden camera is easily identifiable if you look for it, because all cameras have a backlight that may be faintly visible.
3. Another option is to invest in a hidden camera detector that immediately senses the presence of a camera in closed quarters.
4. Don’t forget to do the mirror check in case your trial room mirror is two-way. Place the tip of your fingernail against the reflective surface and if there is a gap between your fingernail and the mirror image of the nail, then it is a genuine mirror.
However, if your fingernail directly touches the image of your nail, then beware, it is a two-way mirror! (There may be someone looking at you from the other side). This is because there is a gap on a real mirror; the silver is on the back of the mirror under the glass. On the other hand, with a two-way mirror, the silver is on the surface. So remember, every time you see a mirror in a trial room or a hotel room, do the ‘fingernail test’. It doesn’t cost you anything and is simple to do.
Image courtesy: BCCL
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