A voyeur in eastern China has been arrested for secretly filming women in a communal shower by using a pinhole camera disguised as a lighter.
A report detailing how one of the victims found the hidden camera drew thousands of comments on Chinese social media this week.
The woman, surnamed Zhang, told the Yangtse Evening News that she found the lighter on top of an open pack of cigarettes on the windowsill of the public shower room in Suzhou, Jiangsu in May.
The lighter had been lying there for a few days, she said. When she touched it, she was shocked to find a red light blinking. She took the object back to her room and found the lighter was actually a USB stick containing a lens.
Not long after she took the lighter, a man, who turned out to be her neighbour, knocked on her door and demanded she give him the object. The man later admitted to police he had put the camera in the communal shower.
Users on China’s microblogging site Weibo were outraged by the incident but not surprised. Many pointed out how easily available such spy cameras are.
From buttons to soda cans to toothbrush and soap bottles, Chinese manufacturers have transformed many daily household objects into sophisticated spyware.
Even electrical plugs and wall-mounted hooks may not be as they first appear.
In 2014, China banned the unauthorised production as well as selling and buying of secret surveillance equipment. Those who manufacture, trade or use secret listening and filming devices are subject to a maximum sentence of three years in prison.
However, search terms such as “tapping” and “long-distance monitor” still bring up thousands of products on Taobao.com, China’s most popular online marketplace.
A common selling point of many tracking and listening devices is “to see through lies and defend your marriage.”
One GPS tracking device specially designed for cars sells for between RMB30-399 on Taobao. The device has a recording function and can be remotely turned on and off, the page says.
The item is referred to as a “sharp weapon in the war of marriage defence” in its advertising materials (pictured above).
Taobao’s parent company Alibaba Group said listings of hidden spy equipment are against the online trading platform’s policies.
In a statement to Hong Kong Free Press, a spokesperson for Alibaba said the company is “currently taking steps to remove the infringing listings and the respective sellers will be subject to our progressive disciplinary measures.”
