I hunted the men who secretly film their wives and share footage online
The men secretly filmed their wives and girlfriends and posted the footage online before bragging about their recordings.
Others targeted foreigners; One of them hid a camera along the walking route in the hope of catching the women urinating.
In new BBC documentary Hunting the Spycammers, Jess Davies reveals a dark online network of hidden cameras in bedrooms, bathrooms, changing rooms and other private areas.
charity Asylum While a 78% increase in technology-facilitated abuse referrals has been reported, Welsh Women’s Aid The scale of the problem is difficult to gauge, he said, because most victims don’t even know it’s happening.
“What was really disturbing was that many of the perpetrators were filming and sharing content with people they loved, mostly women,” TV presenter Davies said.
“This really highlights how anyone can be targeted with this harm.”
During his research, the 33-year-old discovered a variety of cheap spy camera technologies, including cameras disguised as everyday objects such as pens, air fresheners and receipts.
The issue is personal for Davies, who grew up in Ceredigion, Aberystwyth, as photos of herself in her underwear were shared in her town when she was 15.
She exchanged photos with a boy she liked and he He passed them on to others without their consent.
“It feels like these women are being hunted down,” says Jess Davies [BBC]
“It felt like such a huge violation to think that someone you care about could do this to me. It makes you feel worthless,” she said.
“Seeing similar images of other victims being shared on the forum we infiltrated brought back those feelings of betrayal and made me question where my image had gone.
“Could he have been on one of these forums?”
Some consider the impact of such actions harmless or “just a joke”, Davies said.
He added: “Others, like the voyeurs we talk about in our film, thought there would be no problem if the victim didn’t know they were being filmed without their consent.
“It really highlights how overlooked online harms and image abuse are.
“Behind every photo or video is a person who has to live with this betrayal for the rest of their life.”
For the documentary, Davies worked with investigative journalist Liam Connell, who has previously infiltrated secret online networks.
They gained access to a voyeuristic website, a hub where users connected to encrypted chat groups, and revealed individuals openly exchanging tips on secretly filming people and bragging about their recordings.
“This is a never-ending cycle of mass distribution of content without women’s consent,” he said.
“It feels like these women are hunting and being hunted.”
Jess Davies was shocked by much of what she found [BBC/Rock Paper Productions]
Davies also confronted the owner of the forum they infiltrated.
He said: “He told us he regularly checked content and removed content without consent, but from the evidence we found it appeared that this content was unlikely to cause long-term harm to victims.
“It felt like people being filmed without their consent were completely overlooked and ignored, their consent was not needed.
“It was actually the lack of consent that motivated most of the spycam guys.”
Davies hopes the documentary will raise awareness of the harm caused by hidden spy cameras and reinforce that abuse of privacy and consent “should never be normalised”.
Privacy and security
Filming someone isn’t automatically a crime in the UK.
For example, in public spaces people are generally allowed to film things they can see.
Covert recording becomes a crime for a number of reasons; voyeurismIt takes place in an area where the person being filmed can expect privacy, or it is done to cause harassment or alarm.
Domestic violence charity Refuge is calling for tighter regulation of covert surveillance devices and better training for police to detect and investigate their use.
“What is particularly concerning is how accessible and affordable these devices are, allowing more perpetrators to weaponize them as a form of control,” said Bo Bottomley, director of policy and public affairs.
Last year there was a 78% increase in referrals for technology-facilitated abuse cases.
But the charity said almost every survivor it supported had experienced some form of abuse facilitated by technology, and there had been a rise in reports of hidden cameras and microphones being used in homes.
A spokesman for Welsh Women’s Aid said: “Such covert surveillance can take away a person’s sense of privacy and security.”
The charity warned that the damage went far beyond the initial recording, with the images and videos shared having a devastating impact on the lives of survivors, leaving many feeling unsafe even in their own homes.
“This type of abuse is particularly difficult to measure. Most survivors will not be aware that it is happening to them,” they added.
Tech companies have been called on to act quickly to remove shared spycam footage and provide information to police to help identify those responsible.
The UK government has been asked for comment.
Hunting Spycammers will be broadcast on the BBC’s YouTube channels and BBC iPlayer on Wednesday 15 July.
