hidden camera

A hidden camera is a still or video camera used to film people without their knowledge. The camera is "hidden" because it is either not visible to the subject being filmed, or is disguised as another object. Hidden cameras have become popular for household surveillance, and can be built into common household objects such as smoke detectors, clock radios, motion detectors, ball caps, plants, and cellphones. Hidden cameras may also be used commercially or industrially as security cameras.

A hidden camera can be wired or wireless. The former will be connected to a TV, VCR, or DVR, whereas a wireless hidden camera can be used to transmit a video signal to a receiver within a small radius (up to a few hundred feet).

Hidden cameras are also sometimes used in reality television to catch participants in unusual or absurd situations. Participants will either know they will be filmed, but not always exactly when or where, or do not know they have been filmed until later, at which point they may give consent to the footage being produced for a show. This latter sub-genre of unwitting participants began in the 1940s with Candid Camera, and recent examples include Spy TV, Totally Hidden Video, Punk'd, The Jamie Kennedy Experiment, and Girls Behaving Badly.

Some hidden camera shows have led to lawsuits or deny to air by the people who were trapped in set-ups that they found unpleasant.

See also

• Exposé (journalism)
• Surveillance