Found video baby monitor in holiday home

[YellowSunshineSky]

I'm quite disturbed as I've just noticed a video monitor switched on in one of the bedrooms of the holiday home I'm staying in (Airbnb).

I've now switched it off and I've just messaged the owner to ask why it was left on.

Obviously I'm not BU, I just didn't know where else to post!

What do I do in this situation? Keep staying here? I'm reluctant to leave as it's the start of my holiday and I can't afford alternative accommodation.

The monitor was left in full view in a child's bedroom, the family who own the house have gone camping (so wouldn't need it), so there's a very strong chance that it could be a genuine mistake leaving it there and switched on.

If they were going to spy they'd have surely hidden it?

This is our third night here, can't believe I didn't spot it sooner.

[sunflowerroad]

I have a motorola baby monitor that has a receiver for in the house but I can also view it from my phone when Im
Out etc, and it automatically records movement etc. I would certainly switch it off, as you dont know what else it could be connected to.

[eightyfourandahalf]

The monitor was left IN FULL VIEW in a CHILD's bedroom

and you think someone is spying on you because...

You'd think it was hidden in one of the lights in the shower room.

[Lipz]

I would have gotten a scare too. I think when we see camera's sitting there and on we do worry. They should have left both parts together in the room, turned off, not one part in a drawer in another part of the house.

Baby monitors have changed so much that it's difficult to know how much one can do unless we've bought it ourselves. When I first had children the baby monitors were ridiculous, you were practically standing outside the bedroom door listening to it and there was no screens, now a days they nearly make you a cup of coffee.

[kwiksavenofrillsusername]

Glad it worked out OP!

For future reference, if you’re staying anywhere and suspect there may be hidden cameras, there’s lots of info about how to find them online. You can often pick them up by scanning for WiFi networks and using your phone cameras’s IR light. Always good to know if you’re in a shady situation. (I know it doesn’t apply to this one but people may find this thread in future).

[foxandbee]

Although I guess if your son is older they thought you wouldn't need it so didn't mention it.

[foxandbee]

@PolypGrunterPulpit

Not surprised you were suspicious, OP. If the owners are leaving it there for the use of the holidaymakers, why don't they just put both parts in a box and leave on a table somewhere, rather than one unit switched on and one unit hidden in a cupboard? Bit surreal.

That seems odd to me too. Why didn't they tell you where the other part of the equipment was?

[KT59]

I don’t think you were being unreasonable to question it at all. The way modern technology is with these cameras now being able to be viewed remotely, videos saved etc, the camera would have unsettled me too.
I think the use of the baby monitor for guests could be better explained, video monitor for viewing the camera should perhaps be placed next to the camera for the holiday quests use if required, not sure many people would think to go looking in a sideboard for the video monitor.

[fromdownwest]

Good lord, from accidently leaving the baby monitor on to being voyeurs!

When did we all become so mental!

[ChainJane]

Make sure you mention the camera when leaving a review. There's a good chance it was an honest mistake, but voyeurs often test the waters like this to see what they can get away with. Leave a baby monitor and you can explain it away, as the owner has done here. Find one of those covert coat hook cameras, smoke detector cameras or light bulb cameras and the police would get involved.

Mention it in the review because if others report the owner "accidentally" spying on them a pattern may emerge.

[Eleoura]

Was there a welcome booklet to explain it or where the monitor was?

[PolypGrunterPulpit]

Not surprised you were suspicious, OP. If the owners are leaving it there for the use of the holidaymakers, why don't they just put both parts in a box and leave on a table somewhere, rather than one unit switched on and one unit hidden in a cupboard? Bit surreal.

[YellowSunshineSky]

I'm very happy to realise that I was BU!

When my kids were small video monitors didn't exist.

When I discovered it I could just see a video camera recording my son's holiday bedroom - it was super creepy and gave me quite a scare! Google told me it was a video baby monitor but I mistakenly thought it could broadcast to the owners mobile and that they'd have recordings of the room, so I felt he'd been spied on and that they might be perverts wanting to film him getting undressed.

If I'd have known that video baby monitors just show live footage to another unit and had known that unit was in the house, then I wouldn't have worried at all.

I've suggested that the owner point it out to future guests. Not everyone is familiar with the concept of video baby monitors and how they work. Many people are not relaxed about being filmed in a private space.

[Jasmine11]

If it's a home with young children who usually use the camera I'm not sure why you would jump to thinking it was something sinister rather than had just been left on. If someone wanted to film you or your children they would surely be more discreet!

[WimpoleHat]

We have a holiday let and I’ve been asked if we have a baby monitor available. If someone used it last week, they may just have forgotten to switch it off?

[callmeadoctor]

Ah that seems a perfectly satisfactory explanation x

[YellowSunshineSky]

The owner has replied saying that the viewing screen part is in a sideboard downstairs and that she always leaves the monitor for families with small children so they can use it if they want.

She said it can't be viewed out of the house.

[notapizzaeater]

I'd want to know what type it is tbh, one that you can only see in the house, honest mistake, one you can view remotely/ record much much more of an issue

[NuffSaidSam]

'It's a bit weird...surely you'd do a final check of each room if you were letting them out? '

But it's still easy to miss something. Particularly if it's something that is there in your house all the time, you sort of become blind to it.

[jasminechocolate]

I'd see what they come back with but would do a complaint through Airbnb. That's a massive invasion of privacy regardless of whether it's a mistake or not.

[Topofthepopicles]

Given where it was I think it’s highly, highly likely just a mistake and not even possible to be viewed by anyone.

[Luckymummytoone]

Weird!

[FortunesFave]

It's a bit weird...surely you'd do a final check of each room if you were letting them out? Tell us what they say OP!

[Lolamambam]

@BillyIsMyBunny

I actually think YABU to be overreacting to something which is almost certainly a non-issue. If it was left in full view it seems highly likely it was just a mistake, if the owners wanted to spy they would surely hide it. Also in my experience most baby monitors only have a small range so it’s unlikely that anybody outside of the house could view anything on it and they stream live so it’s not recording.

Lots of them now have passwords so you can watch from your phone etc.
I know someone who has given the password to family who live abroad so they can see their grandchild as they’ve never met her (due to covid).
I’m sure this is all very innocent and nothing to worry about as you and PP have said!

[KT59]

I’d also be freaked out by this!
We have a video baby monitor in our DD bedroom, but only transmits to the monitor within the house and can’t be saved, so hopefully it’s just one of them. Some baby cameras can be viewed remotely from mobile phones/laptops etc and the clips saved.
Do you know what camera it is?

[BillyIsMyBunny]

I actually think YABU to be overreacting to something which is almost certainly a non-issue. If it was left in full view it seems highly likely it was just a mistake, if the owners wanted to spy they would surely hide it. Also in my experience most baby monitors only have a small range so it’s unlikely that anybody outside of the house could view anything on it and they stream live so it’s not recording.