Hidden surveillance cameras are more common around the world than many of us realize.
They can be found in convenience stores, fast food restaurants, bus stops and ATM machines.
They can now even be found in many homes, parking lots and next to busy intersections.
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Reasons for popularity
What are the reasons for the extreme popularity and wide use of wireless CCTV cameras for both home and business security purposes?
For one thing, they are small and don’t require a lot of real estate.
Today’s wireless CCTV cameras are not obvious, and are quite affordable when compared with other security methods..
A few drawbacks
There are a few drawbacks you need to think about when considering the purchase of a small, wireless surveillance camera as part of a home security plan.
One is that some of these cameras offer only a very narrow or limited view. If you want to use the video from one of these cameras to identify perpetrators in a court of law, there might be a problem.
For example, if the criminal is not well within the camera’s field of vision, a good defense attorney might establish reasonable doubt as to that person’s identify.
Another possible drawback is that these devices are very small and do not necessarily offer the best quality and highest resolution – making it difficult to recognize people’s faces.
Privacy issues
Another common complaint is that these cameras do invade the privacy that many people expect. Some people are upset by the fact that they were videotaped without their knowledge.
People, especially in the United States, have an expectation of privacy that they feel is violated by hidden cameras.
For this reason the use of these cameras in order to identify people is hotly debated and highly contested.
At this time, most states will allow the use of surveillance video cameras if no audio is recorded.
You should be sure check with your state before recording sounds – as some states require you to inform anyone being recorded of this fact.
If you are hoping to catch employees, nannies or housekeepers in the act of stealing from you or abusing their privileges – or your children – then a hidden surveillance camera could be an excellent choice.
These cameras can quite often be valuable tools in identifying those who misbehave.
However, hidden cameras by themselves may not be an effective crime deterrent as they are, of course, hidden.
You should consider this before relying on them as a sole means of defense or security for your home and or business.