Luke stays in Kaohsiung B&B and finds pinhole camera in smoke detector

A mainland netizen posted on Taiwan's "Breaking News Commune" on the 11th that she and her boyfriend checked into a Kaohsiung homestay earlier this year and found pinhole cameras in the bedroom and bathroom. Pay attention to privacy protection. The netizen

said that at the beginning of this year, she and her boyfriend traveled to Taiwan and booked a homestay in Kaohsiung through Airbnb (homestay booking platform). Unexpectedly, after checking in, they found that there were 3 cigarettes in the room of less than 20 square meters. At that time, I felt very strange, and there were red lights flashing in the two smoke detectors, and it was suspected that someone was secretly taking pictures.

Cameras hidden in smoke alarms.

Then the two called the police for help. After the police arrived at the scene to collect evidence, they found two pinhole cameras in the bedroom and the bathroom respectively, and contacted the 39-year-old homeowner surnamed Ye to explain to the case.

The homeowner surnamed Ye originally denied the crime, but finally changed his mind and admitted that he installed the pinhole a few days before they checked in, and argued that the camera was installed to prove to Airbnb that the customer smoked.

The police removed the pinhole camera in the bedroom.

The police removed the pinhole camera in the bathroom. Netizen

pointed out that the transcript of the inquiry provided by the Kaohsiung District Prosecutor’s Office showed that the owner’s homestay had not been registered with the relevant department, which is an illegal homestay.

At present, the whole incident has entered the judicial process. The owner surnamed Ye was prosecuted for the crime of obstructing secrets, and the court will be held on August 18. The netizen said that because filing a lawsuit in Taiwan requires notarization of a lot of personal information in the mainland, it is very troublesome. He went to the notary office more than 10 times in total. The various processes were ups and downs and painstaking, and the final cost was close to 100,000 yuan. Netizen

said that this homestay has been in operation since 2014. I don’t know how many tenants have been secretly photographed and become victims. I hope Taiwan will severely punish this scumbag.

According to Taiwan media reports, this homestay has been forced to close down by Kaohsiung City Tourism Department. Airbnb also stated through its official Weibo on the 11th that it had immediately removed the host from the Airbnb community after the incident and provided the tenant with a full refund.

Kaohsiung City Police said that pinhole cameras are easy to disguise now, they may be disguised as extension cords, wall hooks or other electrical equipment, and even lighters may be pinhole cameras. Obtrusive items, or unnecessary electrical equipment.