How Do You Hide a Spy Camera in Plain Sight
The point of a spy camera is to work without being noticed, which means it must be hidden from plain sight. However, you’ll find it easier to hide a spy camera correctly if you’ve taken a course in home security. Thankfully, there’s the internet, making it unnecessary to keep racking your brain for ideas.
There are many ways and places to hide a spy camera from plain sight, making it undetectable. Your strategy depends on whether you’re trying to hide the camera indoors or outdoors and what kind of camera it is. While it’s crucial to note that there’s no perfect way to hide a spy cam, you also don’t want to make it too easy to detect.
This article will show you some clever ways to hide a spy camera from sight indoors and outdoors. As a bonus, you’ll learn some ways to spot a hidden security camera, as the combination of these skills makes you a security-conscious individual by default.
How Do You Hide a Camera in Plain Sight Outside?
The perfect spot for hiding a security camera depends on where you’re hiding them. You may be trying to hide them indoors, outdoors, or even in your car. For each scenario, there are different places to hide the device to make it virtually undetectable.
However, this section will only discuss how you can hide a camera in plain sight outside to evade detection. Here are some clever ideas for places to hide your security camera to shield them from plain view.
Trees
If you have trees growing naturally around your home, you can use them to mask security cameras and the many positive uses of a tree out there. According to what we know of burglars and other bad actors, checking the trees around your apartment for signs of a security camera is different from their background checks before starting their job.
One downside of hiding your camera using this method is that you need trees growing naturally around your home. If you don’t have one, it will take years to grow, and you want to secure your home immediately. While waiting for that tree to grow, you can use the alternative below.
Plants and flower pots
The best way to hide a security camera inside and outside your home is in plants or flower pots. This method works exceptionally well if you have several plants outside your home, as it makes it harder to guess the exact use. Even if an intruder suspects that your flower pots carry a hidden camera, it would’ve recorded more than enough before they’ll find it.
Hiding your security camera within plants or flowers works best when it is camouflaged to look like the material you’re hiding it within. Many manufacturers sell camouflage versions of their security surveillance systems to make them easier to hide in plants, trees, and flower pots. Buying a camouflage camera is a no-brainer if you aim to spy on people without them knowing.
On doorbells
Old doorbells do a single job: ringing when there’s someone behind your door, but there’s a lot more it can do, especially from a security perspective. Given that everyone seeking entry into your apartment will come in contact with your doorbell at least once, you can take advantage of that to install a small security camera on it.
In addition to monitoring everything outside your property, a doorbell camera can also show you a quick peek at someone outside before you let them enter your home. More importantly, doorbells are moderately discrete, and even if it eventually gets detected, they would’ve seen enough to give you an excellent perspective of whatever is happening around your home.
Birdhouses
Another outdoor feature that blends with the environment ideally is birdhouses, and they’re perfect for outdoor security cameras. The main selling point of a birdhouse isn’t the stealthiness, it’s the fact that you can get whatever viewing angle you want, depending on where and how you install it.
The birdhouse for a spy camera doesn’t have to be massive; it’s even better when it’s tiny. Also, the fact that birdhouses look adorable is another reason to get one for your spy camera, but it’s less obscure than a plant or flower pot.
Where Can I Hide My Spy Camera at Home?
While there are many creative ideas for hiding your spy camera outside, they pale compared to the many ideas available for hiding spy cameras indoors. Since there are plenty of items and structures indoors, there are thousands of pictures for hiding your spy camera.
Here are some ideas of where to hide your spy camera at home:
1. Picture frames
Picture frames are great for beautifying your home, but do you know what else they work excellently for? Hiding security cameras installed within the home. Before moving on, it’s crucial to note that there might be legal issues with hiding spy cameras in picture frames, especially if the frame is in a room where a person should have a reasonable expectation of privacy, like a bedroom.
However, it’s legal to record security footage in your living room in most countries, and the picture frame idea works best for sitting rooms. It’s hard to imagine that a smiling picture beautifying the space is also looking at you and recording what you do, and that’s precisely why it’s a genius idea.
2. Stuffed animals
If you like the idea of a stuffed animal, you can take advantage of your passion for hiding a security camera indoors. There are several benefits of hiding your camera this way. For one, there’s plenty of space in a stuffed animal to hide a security camera. Also, most people never think those cute animals can hide in cameras, and even if they do, they’ll have a hard time finding it out.
However, there are some disadvantages to hiding your camera using this technique. Stuffed animals don’t stay in a single place like picture frames or flower pots, making it hard to control the camera angle. If that doesn’t bother you, there are no issues with hiding a spy camera within a stuffed animal. You can replace one of the animal’s eyes with the camera for dramatic effect!
3. In books
If you have a bookshelf with more than a couple of books, you already have an excellent place to hide a spy camera. Find a book that roughly matches the camera’s color and hide it around or within that book. You can also place it somewhere around the wooden section of the bookshelf if it hides the camera better.
Also, you can find the perfect angle on the bookshelf and move the books to that section. This way, you can still camouflage the camera while getting security footage that’s excellent for you. I hope someone doesn’t come around looking to read that same book.
4. Smoke detectors
Smoke detectors are excellent for hiding spy cameras as nobody ever seems to touch them for any reason. Try to recall when you last felt or opened your smoke detector. Well, it seems everyone else is like you; they install it and leave it there forever or until it’s needed.
The fact that there are many conspiracy theories about smoke detectors causing radiation poisoning also helps this cause. While the radiation on smoke detectors is so minor that it’s harmless to you, many people believe the theories and won’t touch them. If you don’t want your spy camera in plain sight, hide it within a smoke detector.
5. Indoor plants
Flower pots are great for hiding a camera outdoors, but they’re arguably even better for hiding one indoors. Having an array of flowers within your home isn’t unusual in this day and age, and that’s why it makes a lot of sense to hide your camera. You can also find cameras designed as a natural camouflage for plants, another benefit of this idea.
Also, indoor plants stay stationary for the entirety of their stay in your home, unlike stuffed animals. In short, if you need to keep a stable eye on the part of your home, like the door, hiding it within indoor plants is an excellent way to go about it.
That sums up the best places to hide a spy camera within your home. When you combine this with the best ideas for hiding a spy camera outside, you become one of the best security camera “hiders” in the world today.
Conclusion
Hiding a security camera is easy; what could prove to be difficult is the lawsuit you’ll face if you install it in the wrong location. Before installing any spy camera, you should note that it’s universally illegal to record footage of someone in a room where they should have a reasonable expectation of privacy. When you respect these laws, you should be good to go.
