Being so much more vulnerable than motorists, cyclists need to do all they can to protect themselves. Experience and knowledge, of course, go a long way, as does defensive riding. However, not all cyclists realise that tech could help protect them on the roads, and that just a couple of essential pieces of kit could deter dangerous drivers and keep both themselves and their bikes safe.

Body-worn cameras to deter dangerous drivers

As all road cyclists will know, cycling on busy roads and highways alongside fast-moving vehicles can be a hair-raising and occasionally terrifying experience. Cyclists are at a distinct disadvantage and can often feel unsafe on the roads, fearing collisions and accidents as well as confrontations with impatient and angry drivers.

A visible body-worn or helmet-mounted camera can help cyclists to feel safer on the road, as well as acting as a visible deterrent to dangerous drivers.

Although they should always take extra care when passing or manoeuvring around cyclists anyway, knowing that their driving is being recorded can prompt motorists to be safer and more responsible. The presence of your camera is a strong deterrent against passing too close or other reckless acts that could endanger a cyclist. No one wants to be caught on film breaking the law, especially when the cyclist would be within their rights to pass the footage on to the police.

There are many specially designed cameras for cyclists, ones which fit onto the helmet or onto the handlebars of the bike. However, some other types of surveillance camera may also be useful, depending on how compact and suitable for use on the move they are.

Keeping your bike safe at home

As well as keeping drivers in line with body-worn cameras on the roads, it’s also important to keep your bike safe when it’s not in use. If you can’t keep your bike behind closed doors, outdoor surveillance cameras can keep a close eye on it when it’s locked up outside your property. You can check in on it using your smartphone whenever you like, or choose motion-activated cameras which send you an alert when motion is detected. This kind of protection may seem excessive, but good quality bikes are far from cheap, and those with a collection of branded, vintage or specialist bikes and no space to store them indoors will definitely want to do all they can to keep their bikes safe.

Tracking a stolen bike

Another key piece of kit you may want to invest in as a cyclist, as well as a surveillance camera of some kind, is a GPS tracking device. One of the biggest benefits of fitting a bicycle with a GPS tracker is that you can quickly and easily locate the bike if someone tries to steal it. True, GPS trackers can be removed with a lot of effort, but they can also be cleverly hidden or securely fixed to the bike. Something like a mini car tracker (if you aren’t buying a specialist bike tracking device) can be bolted to the underneath of the frame of the bike so that it looks quite subtle and discreet, and is also reasonably tough to remove. A thief may eventually manage to remove it, but not before you’ve received an alert on your smartphone and informed the police of your bike’s current location.

Many bike thieves are opportunists, and they usually go for an easy steal. If your bike looks like it has a tracker on it which they’ll need both tools and time to remove, a potential thief may not consider it worth the risk and move on.

Parental piece of mind

Knowing exactly where a bike is at any given time can also be good news for parents. The ability to check in to make sure your child hasn’t strayed too far on a bike ride, or see that they’re on the way home when curfew is approaching, can be hugely reassuring.

Improving cycling performance with GPS tracking devices

GPS trackers also have another useful application – improving cyclist performance. In fact, if you’re serious about your cycling or fitness, or you’re training for an event, GPS trackers can prove invaluable. GPS trackers can give you real-time information on routes you’ve taken, distance travelled and speed. You can keep up with this information on the move, or you can use it to analyse your performance post-ride. Over time, you can build up a picture of distance travelled. So, if you’re trying to work your way up to an ambitious goal, ready for a race or a long-distance cycling event for example, then you can track your progress after each and every ride.

Again, there are many specialist cyclist tracking devices you can use, but even a mini car GPS tracker can help you get a good idea of the distance you’ve travelled and your speed at each part of the journey. You can even generate reports across a week, month or longer, if you really want to go in-depth to analyse your performance or progress.

Being so compact, a GPS tracker can be bolted onto your bike frame without adding much unnecessary weight or bulk to slow you down or get in your way. You may even be able to use your GPS tracker on an everyday basis – for example, to cut down on the time it takes to cycle to work each morning by finding a more efficient, quicker route.

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Companies of all sizes are using GPS

It used to only be large international companies who made use of fleet tracking technology, as they have literally hundreds of vehicles throughout the world to keep tabs on. However, GPS tracking has now filtered down to smaller fleets and smaller companies. Many businesses now use GPS to track company cars, to ensure maximum efficiency and productivity, and also to ensure that rights to use company cars (and claim fuel expenses) are not being abused.

However, fleet managers need to be careful when tracking employees in company-owned vehicles. If they aren’t aware of the legal issues surrounding tracking and monitoring, they could end up violating the privacy of their employees and end up in very hot water indeed. Breaking the rules relating to tracking and privacy could potentially result in some very hefty penalties indeed, as well as breaking the trust between the employees and the company. These are both very good reasons why it’s crucial to take the time to familiarise yourself with the law on vehicle tracking before starting to use tracking devices.

GPS trackers and the law – 5 essential points to remember

While it’s also worth doing further research on the legalities of GPS tracking in order to provide the company with watertight protection should an issue arise, here are the 5 essential points you need to remember right now:

• You must never monitor an employee’s whereabouts outside of work time. Most courts would agree that private tracking – tracking outside of work hours – is highly inappropriate and a breach of an employee’s privacy. It’s very bad practice and can lead to a complete breakdown in worker-company relations, and could even result in legal action and a case being brought against you in an employment tribunal. It’s a good idea to be very vigilant about when tracking devices are being switched on and monitored, and keep records which demonstrate that at no point have you broken the rules.

• You should make your employees aware that tracking technology will be used. This isn’t demanded by any particular law, but it can save a lot of trouble later on. Making the employee fully aware of the tracking device and even including them in the decision to use GPS, can potentially improve productivity too. The employee knows that they are being tracked, and they know that the fleet manager is monitoring all of the vital statistics. This can make them more mindful of putting in a good performance during the working day and not taking advantage of the relative freedom available away from the strict office environment. You can make it a condition of using a company vehicle that tracking technology will be used during working hours, something that the employee is fully informed about and agrees to before they can take receipt of the car keys. This then forms a clear agreement between company and employee.

• GPS tracking should be built into your company’s electronic surveillance policy (if you have one). If you want to start tracking company vehicles, you absolutely must lay down the terms of how it will work in a clear, detailed and comprehensive official company policy. Consult an expert on this and make sure that it protects your company, and its employees, as much as possible.

• There must be a legitimate business reason for tracking an employee vehicle. If questioned, your company must be able to prove that it had a legitimate business reason for installing GPS trackers on its vehicles. Possible reasons include monitoring and improving fleet efficiency, improving customer service (i.e. speeding up delivery times by choosing more efficient routes), monitoring worker productivity or reducing fuel consumption across the fleet.

• It is recommended to carry out an impact assessment first. This is yet another way of covering the company in case of a complaint or problem arising. Carry out a full assessment of the benefits of using GPS tracking technology and the possible impact on employees. Look at risks, worst-case scenarios and consider legal issues such as data protection and potential breaches of privacy. If you can show that you have carefully considered all of the possible implications, and put measures in place to prevent problems, this will put you in a much stronger position if any complaint should ever be made.

Should companies give employees control over tracking?

Some companies have found that they can keep everything legal and above-board, as well as keeping employees happy, by letting the employee take control of when their vehicle is being tracked. This may seem counter to what you’re trying to achieve (namely – keeping an eye on what an employee is up to) but it can work really well.

The employee has full awareness of the tracking technology and enters into an agreement with the company. Such an agreement would stipulate that use of a company car is subject to switching tracking technology on at their designated work start time and off again at the end of the working day. This allows the employer to monitor what they need to, such as fuel consumption, route efficiency and worker productivity. Just as crucially, such an arrangement also keeps intact the trusting relationship between business and staff member.

The post GPS Trackers And The Law – What You Need To Know If You’re Monitoring Employees appeared first on Online Spy Shop.

• Improved notes for more accurate and detailed customer records. Taking notes when speaking to a customer on the phone is hard to do, especially while taking an active part in the conversation. Knowing that a call is being recorded can take the pressure of, as the call can be listened back to and all relevant notes recorded in the customer file. For the customer, it means they can call back and whoever they speak to will have a full record of what happened last time, meaning they don’t have to go through it all again.

• Better listening! As previously mentioned, it’s difficult to actively listen and engage in a conversation when you’re trying to take notes at the same time. Using call recording to take notes after the call can free up your customer service staff to properly listen to customers and understand their needs, as well as engaging in conversation and perhaps even adding a little warmth and humour to the conversation. Everyone wants to be listened to, so make sure your team are doing it properly.

• Quick clearing up of disputes and complaints. If a customer alleges that your company promised something or an agent was unclear or misleading on the phone, your records can help clear up the problem right away. With facts and evidence on your side, you know exactly what went on and can make an informed choice about how to deal with the situation, whether giving in to the customer demands or politely and calmly explaining their mistake. This prevents the agent from having to rely on memory alone, which can end up with ‘he said, she said’ allegations passing between customer and agent, which will inevitably anger the customer.

• Getting to know your customers better. The hours of recorded calls your business retains can help your staff to better understand their customers, to sympathise with their pain points and help to solve their problems. The recordings can be used to build up a picture of different customer personas who use your business, so that you can tailor your service to suit their needs.

• Improving communications over time. If you listen back to recorded calls from a few years ago and compare them to last week’s calls, you should be able to identify a clear change over time. If there is no improvement, perhaps change needs to be implemented. If there is an evident drop in the level of customer service, you can take action now to improve service before standards slip any further.

• Training staff to exceptional standards. Customer service reputation is one of the things that can make or break a company. Certain brands are known for excellent customer service, and this becomes a key selling point for the business. If you want to become one of them, utilise the fantastic training tool that is your customer call records. New staff can listen to real-life examples of excellent, and not so excellent, interactions with customers, learn how to deal with difficult situations and pick up tips on a good telephone manner to adopt.

• Monitoring and quality control. No supervisor can listen to several calls at once, so recordings become essential in helping managers to monitor standards and carry out quality control checks. A supervisor can listen to one call live, then check in with another agent once that call has finished. If there’s anything a manager spots as an issue during a live call, they can draw the agent’s attention to it during a training session using the recording of the call.

• Capturing missed information. It’s easy to miss, misunderstand or mishear a vital piece of information provided by a customer during a call. Their phone signal may make it difficult to understand something, or there may be a loud noise in the office which obscures part of a sentence. These gaps can lead to an incomplete record of the call in the customer file, but not if you can listen back a few times to get the information you need. This saves you from having to call customers back for the information, or completely misunderstanding the customer’s request.

• Updating procedures. Taking a listen through a back catalogue of recorded customer calls can flag up certain issues with your existing systems and procedures. If there is a problem that regularly occurs, such as customers being put through to the wrong person due to confusion in the pre-recorded call menu for example, then your call records can help you spot it and fix it. This will save customers from experiencing the same problems in the future. The more proactive you are and the more problems you eliminate before they happen, the fewer complaints you’ll have to deal with and the better your reputation for exceptional customer service.  

• Complying with regulations. Your team’s calls with customers may need to adhere to certain regulatory standards – for example, if your business works within the financial services industry. If this is the case, you may be legally required to record and keep customer calls. From your customer’s perspective, knowing that you are adhering to your legal responsibilities can provide them with great peace of mind that you are a company they can trust, and that there is evidence of the call and any information, transactions, deals, contracts or agreements discussed over the phones just in case they ever need to raise a dispute.  

The post 10 Ways To Use Call Recording To Improve Customer Service appeared first on Online Spy Shop.

There are plenty of risks to counter and overcome in the daytime, but at night – the risk can become even greater. If you have staff who work three hours or more between the ‘night hours’ of 11pm to 6am the next morning, then they are classed as night workers. Night work goes on in lots of different industries, from pubs, bars and clubs to factories and warehouses.

What risks do night workers face?

The biggest problem with night work is the dark. Without adequate visibility, it’s easy to trip over something and sustain an injury. Even if there is bright lighting in work areas, there can be further issues with glare and shadow.

There are also fewer people about in some work environments (i.e. factories, the back streets behind a bar) at night, which combined with the dark can tempt a criminal to seize the opportunity to break in and steal from the business. There’s also getting to and from shifts to think about, as heading home on foot at 3am after a shift at the bar can be extremely dangerous.

Lastly, working nights can lead to problems with worker fatigue, especially for new members of staff who are used to sleeping at night rather than working. If an employee’s sleep pattern is all off-kilter, they could be feeling sleepy and less alert than they should be, which could be a recipe for disaster if they are working with anything even remotely dangerous.

How security cameras can help

There are several things that you as an employer can do to help keep your night workers safe, many of which have additional benefits for the business. Surveillance cameras can play a big part in your improvements, in the following ways:

• Cameras placed in any areas where members of the public have access, or even areas they don’t, can act as a strong visible deterrent to criminal behaviour or attempted assault or abuse of your staff
• Surveillance cameras placed in high-risk areas can also make your staff members feel a lot safer while they are at work
• External cameras can help to protect your business premises and assets from theft or vandalism, reducing the risk that your staff may encounter criminals or face unnecessary risks during a break-in
• Camera surveillance can also help to identify areas of poor lighting, where mistakes are often happening, before an accident or injury can occur

From a non-safety point of view, camera surveillance can also help to protect staff in other ways. If some money goes missing from the till of a bar, for example, the video evidence can help to exonerate staff members and prove what really happened. It can also be used for training purposes, to help employees see where they can improve, how to avoid mistakes and generally boost the standard and quality of their work. Sometimes, it’s hard to see that things require improvement unless you are able to play the footage of a moment, interaction or even a whole shift back.  

Wi-Fi monitoring

Simply the presence of a camera on your business premises can be enough to deter would-be criminals and aggressive customers, who could put your staff at risk. However, your cameras are only really effective if they are monitored in some way. If your staff discovered that the on-site cameras weren’t monitored, they could lose all confidence in the measures you’ve put in place to keep them safe – and perhaps even work quality and motivation could go down.

The good news is that you don’t need to hire a full-time security guard to monitor your cameras, nor do you need to buy an expensive system with a link-up to a private security firm. Many Online Spy Shop surveillance cameras can be monitored easily by the user – you.

You don’t need to sit in front of a bank of screens or even spend hours fast forwarding through footage where nothing happens. With Wi-Fi surveillance cameras, you can check in on your staff and business premises from your smartphone, tablet or laptop from wherever you are in the world, whether it’s your office, home or even a holiday destination. You can also make use of motion-activated cameras in restricted areas (where no one is supposed to be) so that you receive alerts and notifications on the device of your choosing when motion is detected. These cameras only start recording when motion is detected through a highly sensitive sensor, which also means that all the footage you review at the end of each day will be valuable. Something will be happening in each second of the film, so there’s no wasted time for you.

Using these cameras, you and your staff can work together to protect both the premises and the rest of the team. If a staff member spots something fishy (i.e. someone spotted lurking around the back of the premises), they can report it to you. You can then check the relevant footage on your phone for the rest of the shift, keeping a close eye out in case the incident happens again.

So, are surveillance cameras worth the investment?

Most business owners would wholeheartedly say yes, especially those which operate at night. Security cameras offer protection for your staff and night workers, but they offer so much more, from protecting your business and deterring thieves to improving working practices and giving you some much-needed peace of mind when you’re away from the business. Even locking up at night becomes so much easier when you know that the premises is protected by cameras in your absence, and that you can check in via your phone any time you feel worried.

The post Do Your Staff Work Nights? How Security Cameras Could Help Keep Them Safe appeared first on Online Spy Shop.

However, it is essential for your own sanity that you do take a break every once in a while. Every parent needs some ‘me’ time and every couple needs a romantic evening together without regular interruptions to settle sibling disputes, get food stains out of the carpet and do endless loads of child-size laundry. You work hard and you’re an amazing parent, so of course you deserve a social life. So, what’s the answer?

Finding the right babysitter and how tech can help

The solution to having a worry-free night out without the kids is, of course, to find a babysitter you can trust. Some lucky parents have a family friend or relative who they’ve known for years and put the utmost faith in. If you don’t and you’re looking to hire a new nanny, how do you find someone you can trust?

The worst part of searching for a new nanny is those first few hours when you leave your kids alone with someone who is practically a stranger. You can do extensive interviews, seek references and all kinds of other checks, but the best test will always be on the job. It’s inevitable – you will eventually have to give your prospective new babysitter a chance to actually do the job and look after your kids.

Don’t worry though, you don’t have to simply leave your children alone with this new person and hope for the best. Technology is on your side, in the form of surveillance cameras or a ‘nanny cam’.

Is it ethical to spy on my babysitter?

Using a nanny cam can be quite a controversial issue. Some parents absolutely swear by them, as they just wouldn’t be able to trust a near-stranger with their children without using such a device. They read horror stories about neglect and abuse in the papers and simply can’t sleep at night worrying about the same thing happening to their children. Knowing that a nanny cam is recording everything that happens when the parent is not at home can provide enormous peace of mind.

On the other hand, other parents feel that it’s perhaps not quite ethical to spy on your babysitter without their knowledge. To help you make a decision that leaves your conscience clear but protects your child, here are some things to consider:

Awareness of the law

Obviously, the last thing you want to do when using surveillance cameras is to break any laws or to violate anybody’s privacy. This is why it’s important to do your research on the ways you are and aren’t allowed to use spy cameras. The good news is that it is perfectly legal to use cameras inside your home and on your property, as long as the footage is for your eyes only and you don’t share or upload it online. You have a legitimate security concern for the safety of your children, so this is adequate justification for the use of surveillance cameras. However, you must remember that while your babysitter is on the clock, your home is effectively his or her workspace. Their privacy must be respected, so you mustn’t place cameras anywhere where they may have a reasonable expectation of privacy such as the bathroom or a room they use to get changed in.

To conceal or not to conceal?

This is the biggest dilemma – do you hide the cameras and hope your babysitter won’t discover them, or tell the truth from the outset? It’s completely up to you, but bear in mind that it will likely ruin the relationship between you if your nanny finds out you’ve been secretly filming him or her. They may be embarrassed, hurt and feel you don’t trust them, and they may even resign. The best course of action may be to be upfront and honest about why you’re using cameras, at the interview stage preferably, and make it clear that it’s about concern for your children rather than a lack of trust. Some people will be ok with it, some won’t, but at least the situation will be clear from the very start.

Using cameras for a trial period

If you decide to use cameras and to tell your nanny about them from the start, you could make the pill easier to swallow by saying that it’s just for a few weeks to see how it all goes. This trial period gives you peace of mind that you’ve got a nanny you can trust, and is a more understandable and reasonable situation for the nanny to put up with.

If you decide to go ahead with nanny surveillance cameras, make sure you go for good quality products and pay careful attention to their placement. Motion-activated camera are a good choice for saving battery power and making the footage easier to view, as you won’t need to fast forward through hours of film where nothing happens. Some Wi-Fi surveillance cameras allow you to view the footage in real-time from a mobile device, wherever you are in the world. So, if you’re out for dinner and you can’t relax through worry about the kids, you can take a quick look at your camera footage on your phone and feel much better.

Once you’ve found your perfect new nanny, you can still use your cameras to keep an eye on your kids when you’re not in the room. You may even learn some fascinating things about your children and how they’re developing through footage that shows what they get up to when no-one’s around!

The post How A Nanny Cam Could Give You Great Peace Of Mind – And Help You Actually Enjoy A Night Out! appeared first on Online Spy Shop.

If you live in a terraced house, flat or anywhere else with thin walls and adjoining neighbours, hearing noises through the wall is a common occurrence. In most cases, crying babies and the scraping of chairs is little more than a slight inconvenience. But what do you do if you start hearing more worrying sounds?

If you’ve heard shouting, screaming, loud thuds and bangs, it could very well be a sign of domestic violence taking place next door. When you hear such sounds, it puts you in a very difficult position. If someone is being hurt or in danger of being hurt, the responsible thing to do as a concerned citizen and neighbour is to call the police right away.

But what if you’re wrong?

Many people would say that if you hear any sounds that suggest domestic violence, it’s better to have the police come out for no reason than do nothing and risk the awful consequences. This is definitely good advice if the sounds are causing you serious alarm and there’s no doubt that the police are required.

However, it is easily possible that you’ve dramatically misinterpreted a sound you’ve heard, particularly if it only happens once. A shout followed by a thud could be domestic abuse, or it could be someone injuring themselves by standing on an upturned plug and kicking it against the wall in anger. Calling the police following such a noise could potentially exacerbate a difficult situation and cause problems between you and your neighbour.

It’s easy to freeze

Many people simply freeze when they hear worrying sounds that could suggest domestic violence. They simply don’t know what to do for the best, so they end up delaying action or doing nothing,  and many may regret it later on. This reaction isn’t usually due to a lack of compassion or concern. Instead, many people are shocked by what they hear and have had no previous experience they can draw on that would help them decide what course of action to take.

They may doubt their own judgement as to the cause of the noises they’re hearing, or worry about their own safety if they do report the matter to the police. If the police arrive after a report, it’ll be pretty obvious that a close neighbour reported it, and it’s only natural to worry that there will be repercussions from the people or persons making the noises – whether or not it does turn out to be domestic violence.

On top of all of these reasons, there’s also a very British sense of minding your own and not butting into someone else’s business to contend with in these situations.

Why a listening device could be a good idea

If you’ve heard a couple of sounds that could be related to domestic violence and you want to play your part as a concerned citizen, possibly preventing further abuse, or you simply want to ease your mind that the sounds are harmless – a listening device could be very useful. These devices are essentially a high-tech version of the glass held against the wall, but with far more detail, sensitivity and sound quality of course. They detect vibrations in even very thick solid walls and convert these vibrations into sound, which you can listen to and record as evidence should you need to. Using this device, you should be able to identify sounds properly, hear conversations and arguments and make sense of what you’ve been hearing.

You might think that using such a device is being a nosy neighbour, but you wouldn’t even be considering it unless you had very real concerns about the safety of those living next door, especially if there are children involved. If it comes to preventing abuse and perhaps even saving lives, the use of such a device would be well worth it. If it turns out to be nothing, you know that you’ve played your part. What’s more, no one ever has to know that you have been listening.

Not domestic violence? That’s a relief, but what will you do about your noisy neighbours?

If you find that the noises you’ve been hearing are basically harmless and not related to domestic violence, you can breathe a sigh of relief. You’ve acted as a responsible, concerned neighbour and investigated the situation. Your conscience is officially clear. But now what do you do about what is obviously a case of noisy neighbours?

This is where again, your listening device can come in very handy indeed. There’s a certain process to follow if you want excessive noise from your neighbours to stop, and it can involve dealing with the local council.

The first step is to pop next door and ask your neighbours politely to try and keep the noise down, if of course you feel comfortable doing so. If you don’t feel comfortable (if you’re intimidated or frightened by the violent-sounding noises you’ve been hearing, for example) or if they ignore your request and continue to bang, shout and possibly play loud music, it’s time to contact the authorities. However, many councils require evidence before they will take real action on a noise complaint. Your local council may send letters to the property informing them that further action will be taken if they don’t keep the noise down, but if this too is ignored, evidence may be required to take further action.

If you can record the noise of your neighbours through the wall along with keeping a detailed noise diary, you can prove to your local authority just how bad the problem is and how it’s affecting you. This should hopefully lead to a resolution, as well as helping you get extra value from your newly purchased listening device.

The post Worried About What’s Going On Next Door? A Listening Device Could Stop Domestic Violence In Its Tracks appeared first on Online Spy Shop.

You may have decided that you will never resort to such behaviour, but can you be absolutely sure that your ex won’t? If the thought has ever entered your head that your former spouse could be using technology to film, record or even track your movements, this is all it can take to make you feel really paranoid.

Have you good reason to suspect you’re being spied on?

It’s easy to get carried away with the nagging feeling that someone is listening to your phone conversations or bugging your computer, and paranoia is by no means a healthy state of mind. However, in some cases, you may have very good reason to be suspicious. For example, when a piece of information is used by your former partner’s solicitors in your divorce case that they have no right or reason to know, such as something you mentioned on the phone to a friend or within a private email. The information may even relate to your location at a given day and time, which no one who hasn’t keeping a close eye on your movements would know.

Fight back with counter surveillance technology

The good news for your peace of mind is that there are ways you can also use technology to fight back, in what is known as counter surveillance. Even if you use this technology and find absolutely nothing to confirm your suspicions, at worst you’ll feel a little silly for being so paranoid and at best you’ll be able to sleep more soundly at night. There are plenty of simple but effective devices you can use to sweep your home, workplace and even your car to ensure that no recording, spying, listening or tracking bugs are being used.

Home and workplace – checking for bugs

The first thing to do if you suspect your ex is spying on you is to make a list of all the most likely places where this could be happening, starting with your home and your workplace. Your home is the most likely option, so start there by taking the following steps:

• Check if any objects have been moved (marks made in dust is a good indicator)
• Look for small holes in walls or furniture – you’re looking for tiny round pinholes where a lens could peep through
• Turn all the lights off and go around the room with a flashlight to see if you can catch a reflection or glare on the lens of the camera
• Look for a recording light (most spy cameras won’t have this for obvious reasons, but some that aren’t designed to be concealed might) and listen for sounds of the camera activating.

These are all manual ways you can check for obvious signs of surveillance, but the only effective way to be sure is to use a bug detection device. If you choose carefully and get one that excels in terms of sensitivity, detail and range, you can use it to locate any equipment that is transmitting. All cameras, recording and listening devices will transmit information somehow, because that is the way that the person who put the devices there can access video or audio content. A good detector can pick up these frequencies and point you in the direction of the transmitter, so you can root out the bug and get rid of it. These devices tend to be very simple to use, emitting an audio signal when transmission has been detected which grows louder the closer you get to the source.

It is less likely that your workplace will have been bugged due to security systems and the large number of people around, but it could still be worth taking a look around your desk anyway. A bug detector may not be useful in this instance however, as there are likely to be lots of transmitting devices around (i.e. your colleagues’ phones and computers).

Could your car be bugged?

As well as checking your home and workplace, it’s also a good idea to use your bug detector to sweep your car for hidden devices. GPS trackers emit signals too, and these can be detected by sensitive bug finders. You can also take a look inside and underneath your car for any suspicious-looking black boxes, or even innocuous-seeming objects like torches which have found their way into your boot and could be concealing trackers or recorders.

Protecting your smartphone and laptop

Last on your list but by no means the least important step, it’s time to check your personal devices for bugs. The first thing to do is to check that no spyware software or other malicious apps are already installed. You can do this by using malware detection software, or simply by checking on the list of installed programs or running applications and processes for anything that shouldn’t be there. A service such as the professional deep root analysis and real-time protection offered by security specialists such as Online Spy Shop can also be helpful, as it involves checking your device as thoroughly as it is possible to check it. Once your phone, tablet or laptop is clean, protect it in the future with some robust firewall, anti-virus and anti-malware software.

Once you’ve carried out all of these steps, you can be reasonably confident that your home, workplace, car and devices are bug free. Released from the horrible feeling of paranoia, you can regain your peace of mind and get on with your life – leaving all unpleasantness with your ex behind.

The post How To Stop Your Ex From Spying On You appeared first on Online Spy Shop.

The only problem is – how do you actually get inside your walls to take a look? You don’t want the mess and expense of ripping plasterboard off the wall, especially if you have no idea exactly where the noises are coming from. You could end up ruining the walls and décor in many parts of your house, still without pinpointing the exact location of the mysterious noises. If you call in a specialist (and that itself can be problematic if you don’t know the cause of the sounds and therefore don’t know which kind of expert you need), they may be just as flummoxed as you are and spend just as much time trying to identify the cause and location of the sounds – all of which will cost you money.

Listening devices – a smarter solution

The smart thing to do is to make use of technology to quickly and easily locate the source of the noises, to gather some information about what’s happening and where before you take any action. A listening device can save you from needlessly damaging your property, as well as saving you both time, money, mess and of course, hassle.

Using a listening device, you can investigate the possible locations of the noise and narrow it down to a far more specific area. As these devices offer exceptional sound quality, clarity and accuracy on many surfaces, you can also identify the exact kind of noise – be it squeak, drip or rustle. Armed with this information, you can then bring in a professional to deal with the problem and be able to tell them exactly where and what is happening. This could save you a small fortune in costs arising from exploratory work a professional would need to do.

Noises in the wall can lead to your mind playing tricks on you, as you suspect the worst. If your imagination is running wild and it’s keeping you up at night, the ability to gather some real information on what’s happening via a listening device can make you feel much better. As well as eventually leading to the resolution of the problem for good, a handy tool like a listening device in up your sleeve can also offer great peace of mind in the short-term. No more nightmares about armies of insects in the walls!

How do listening devices work?

Listening devices work by converting vibrations within the wall into audible sound. When held against the wall, the ceramic contact of the device is sensitive enough to pick up the very softest of vibrations. These are then converted into audio, with the use of a powerful acoustic amplifier and a fine tuning filter you can adjust to your liking – just like you’d focus the lenses on a telescope or binoculars to give you a more defined and focused view. This ensures that the sound is both clear and defined enough for you to accurately identify the cause of the noises you’ve been hearing.

Many listening devices also come with an audio output socket, which means that you can plug in a voice recorder and record the sounds the device picks up. This can be very useful if you’re struggling to identify the sound and need to listen back, or have a professional listen to the sounds and give you their opinion.

One important benefit of this recording feature is its application to tenants in rental properties. If you’ve been kept awake by noises in the walls, you suspect a pest infestation or you’re concerned that there is a serious leak somewhere – your first port of call will be the landlord of the property. Sadly though, not all landlords are as diligent as they should be, so if you’re not being listened to or taken seriously then your device can provide your landlord with all the evidence they need to finally take action.

The thicker the wall, the clearer the sound

You might think that a listening device is bound to work more effectively on thinner walls. However, the opposite is actually the case. Professional listen through walls devices are designed to work much better on thick, solid walls that are as much as 12 inches thick. The devices don’t actually work very well on cavity walls, but at least these spaces allow some access for problems to be investigated.

Listening devices can also listen through panes of glass and windows should you require it.

Practical considerations

If you have noticed noises in walls in different parts of the house, the last thing you want is to trailing power and extension cords everywhere, nor is it convenient or practical to be plugging in and unplugging your listening device all the time. This is why it is recommended to choose a wireless device such as those at Online Spy Shop which are powered by a long-lasting lithium battery, lasting for at least 24 hours.

Many devices are also very compact, which makes them easily portable – these are definitely the ones to go for, especially if there’s a tight angle or an awkward alcove you need to squeeze a listening device into. As an added bonus, if you have a friend or family member complaining of similar noises within their walls, you can simply pop a small, portable device in your bag or even your pocket and do some investigating there too.

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Although all aforementioned reasons are completely valid, the legalities and ethical restrictions of spy cameras need to be deliberated; where the cameras are placed, why they’re placed and how the footage is used, are all important considerations that need to be addressed before taking the plunge.

So before investing in a camera, find out what the ethics and legalities of using hidden spy cameras are!

Reasons to use a spy camera

To ensure that a spy camera is ethically valid in your home, you first need to decide what exactly your reasons are for wanting it.

Some valid reasons for many home owners are for reasons of safety and security; a lot of people are beginning to install covert cameras in order to catch a potential burglar in the act, and hence be able to identify him with ease.

Another popular use for a hidden camera is a so-called ‘Nanny Cam’; when leaving children in the care of unfamiliar babysitters or childminders, many parents long for peace of mind and installing a nanny cam, provides exactly that. This way they can go to work/take extended trips away without having to be constantly worried about the wellbeing of their children. The nanny cam is also a way for parents to monitor whether their child is being mistreated; if something were to happen, the parents would have evidence and can stop the maltreatment immediately.

Similarly, placing a hidden camera in the room of elderly parents/grandparents who are receiving care, puts the mind of their children at ease, allowing them to closely monitor their relatives’ wellbeing. With numerous stories in the news reporting poor elderly care, it’s no wonder more and more people are choosing to take precautions.

Furthermore, people may wish to install cameras to ensure that house staff like cleaners/au pairs aren’t engaging in any illegal behaviour (stealing/snooping through mail etc.), with grounds to dismiss if caught in the act.

Photo credit: Africa Studio/Shutterstock

Legalities

As aforesaid, many home owners wish to install cameras for the very valid reasons above, but they are unsure of the legal issues associated with doing so.

The law isn’t completely clear cut when it comes to issues such as filming, but it is widely understood that as long as you are filming without audio and only in places where there is no ‘expectation of privacy’ (explained in further detail below), then installing a hidden camera in your home is perfectly legal within guidelines provided.

Reasonable Expectation of Privacy

By law, some places within a home are out of bounds for hidden cameras; rooms where privacy is expected, includes (but are not limited to) bedrooms, bathrooms and toilets.
Installing a hidden camera in a kitchen, dining room, living room, playroom or conservatory is generally considered legally acceptable, as this isn’t seen to be violating anyone’s privacy, in the same way placing a camera in a bathroom or private bedroom would be; this is not only seen as legally inappropriate but also unethical.

Furthermore, if you have live in employees such as cleaners or nannies, then placing a hidden camera in their private bedroom would also be seen as a violation of their privacy.

Photo credit: Koksharov Dmitry/Shutterstock

Audio Recording

To reiterate, audio recording is worlds apart from video recording, and the rules and legal requirements do not apply.

When choosing a hidden camera for your home you should aim to go for one without an audio recording function as recording someone’s voice or conversation without their consent is an issue of legality.

In conclusion…

A spy camera is a great investment for a parent wanting peace of mind, children seeking to or a homeowner wanting extra safety and security for their home. As long as the reasonable expectation of privacy as explained above is met and the cameras are only recording visual footage and no audio, then there shouldn’t be any legal or ethical issues to contend with.

Feature image credit: Phonlamai Photo/Shutterstock

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However, they can actually have a more everyday, practical use – such as protecting your vehicle or perhaps another valuable new asset. You can use them to check up on your car when you need to be away from it for any length of time, whether overnight, away for a weekend or even on holiday for a few weeks. If someone should try to steal your car, you’ll know about it right away, perhaps even in time to stop the theft from happening.

Why a GPS tracker should be a top priority when you’ve bought a new car

A brand new car is a huge purchase, and you will naturally want to do all you can to protect your investment. Just in the same way that you park your new car super carefully and glare suspiciously at anyone coming anywhere near it lest the bodywork be scratched, a GPS tracker is yet another form of protection you can use.

New car owners are familiar with that nagging feeling of worry when they are away from their vehicle for any length of time, or have to leave it in an unfamiliar parking spot. You sometimes can’t sleep for imagining would-be car thieves approaching your car, and worry could even interfere with your work or an important meeting. It sounds silly, but if you’ve spent a lot of money on your new car (or you are a serious vehicle enthusiast) it’s only natural to worry about your car when it’s not safely within your sight.

What GPS trackers offer above all else is peace of mind. Once a device is fitted onto your car, you can simply log into the tracking interface on your smartphone, tablet or laptop and double check that all is well. Some devices allow you to simply send a text, and receive one back a minute or two later with the exact location of the car. Simply knowing you can do this can help you to breathe a big sigh of relief and get on with your day.

What happens if someone tries to steal your car?

A GPS tracker can’t physically stop someone from attempting to steal your car – a good alarm system can be a big help with that. However, what it can do is ensure that the criminal doesn’t get very far at all if they do make the dumb decision to target your vehicle. Certain trackers can be programmed so that they send you an alert the instant your vehicle moves. This means that you receive a notification and can instantly log into your tracking portal to see what’s going on. You can inform the police within seconds of the car being stolen and provide officers with the exact location of your vehicle at any given time. GPS trackers send information in real time, so they are accurate to a few seconds.

Due to your lightning-fast response, there is a very good chance that the criminal will be apprehended very quickly and your car recovered before it can be damaged, dumped or sold. If the criminal does manage to escape the police, it won’t be for long. If the car is hidden out of sight, or so the thief believes, the GPS tracker will still be omitting a signal enabling it to be located and the criminal caught red-handed along with his or her associates.

Choosing a GPS car tracker

If you’ve spent a considerable sum on your new set of wheels, there’s no point skimping when it comes to a GPS tracker. You want a device that is reliable, accurate and also able to withstand a range of weather conditions. Trackers are usually bolted to the outside of the vehicle, so you don’t want the technology to become damaged by rain, cold weather or unseasonably hot temperatures. Many of Britain’s roads aren’t the best in terms of potholes either, so you need a tracker that is guaranteed not to fall off when you’re driving and hit a bump. Other features to look for our battery performance, alert and notification functionality and accuracy in pinpointing location.

There are a few different types of GPS tracker to choose from:

• Real-time trackers

These trackers enable you to access information on the location of your vehicle in real-time, from wherever you are in the world. All you need is the software or app on your phone or laptop and an internet connection. These devices are more expensive, but they are also the most sophisticated, accurate and have a wide range of features. For example, you can set them to start tracking only when movement is detected, define particular areas (notifying you if the tracker moves out of the pre-defined area), remotely switch the tracker off to preserve battery life and report in at scheduled intervals.

• SMS trackers

SMS trackers are cheaper than real-time trackers, but they have limited functionality. If you simply want to be able to check in on your vehicle’s location from time to time, they could be a good solution. You simply send a text request for the car’s location, and receive a text back with the exact address. It’s a simple system, but very effective. Some trackers can be placed discreetly on the inside of the vehicle, such as in the boot or under a seat. They are cleverly disguised as an innocuous-looking item you may expect to find in a car, such as a torch, and so go unsuspected. Some trackers have additional features, such as allowing you to send a request for a report on the current battery life or when the tracker is removed from the vehicle, or even recording conversations from inside the vehicle (if the tracker is placed on the inside) from an in-built listening device.

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