Spring Break
Surveillance methods improve with GPS emerging technology
Adam H. Beasley - McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)
Issue date: 5/16/08 Section: Science &Technology
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.-As a private investigator, Jim Bender has tracked everything from straying spouses to strung-out trust-fund babies somtimes following them for days at a time.
But thanks to an innovative GPS device the size of a matchbox, he can now stake out a cheating husband without leaving his Fort Lauderdale office. Or, as he has done the last few weeks, help a major company figure out who is draining the diesel fuel from its big rigs.
Technological advances have revolutionized the surveillance business, making devices smaller, cheaper and more effective than ever. And not just for professional snoops like Bender, but for everyday people.
"Anybody can be a spy now," said Todd Myers, president of Computer Sights, a computer support and surveillance supply store in Fort Lauderdale.
For PIs like Bender, the improved equipment has led to improved service. However, it's also given Peeping Toms a new way to gawk.
Spencer Krumholz, marketing director of World Imports International in Pompano Beach, Fla., faces a lawsuit from two of the company's employees.
His offense? He placed a hidden camera in the ceiling of the women's bathroom, according to court records.
Last year, a Connecticut man wired a shampoo bottle with a tiny camera so he could watch his two female roommates as they showered, according to police. Someone discovered the camera, and Steven Thibodeau was arrested on voyeurism charges.
He later admitted to the crime and received probation. A judge ordered Thibodeau to stay away from cameras and computers.
For the most part, however, the equipment is used by people to protect their interests.
A few months back, Myers sold a well-tailored businessman who suspected his wife was cheating on him a $300 WiLife digital clock, equipped with a spy camera. The man put the clock on his bedside nightstand, and the images it captured were sent, through the power lines, to a computer.
The executive set up the system to alert him, via text message, if there was movement in the master bedroom while he was at work.
But thanks to an innovative GPS device the size of a matchbox, he can now stake out a cheating husband without leaving his Fort Lauderdale office. Or, as he has done the last few weeks, help a major company figure out who is draining the diesel fuel from its big rigs.
Technological advances have revolutionized the surveillance business, making devices smaller, cheaper and more effective than ever. And not just for professional snoops like Bender, but for everyday people.
"Anybody can be a spy now," said Todd Myers, president of Computer Sights, a computer support and surveillance supply store in Fort Lauderdale.
For PIs like Bender, the improved equipment has led to improved service. However, it's also given Peeping Toms a new way to gawk.
Spencer Krumholz, marketing director of World Imports International in Pompano Beach, Fla., faces a lawsuit from two of the company's employees.
His offense? He placed a hidden camera in the ceiling of the women's bathroom, according to court records.
Last year, a Connecticut man wired a shampoo bottle with a tiny camera so he could watch his two female roommates as they showered, according to police. Someone discovered the camera, and Steven Thibodeau was arrested on voyeurism charges.
He later admitted to the crime and received probation. A judge ordered Thibodeau to stay away from cameras and computers.
For the most part, however, the equipment is used by people to protect their interests.
A few months back, Myers sold a well-tailored businessman who suspected his wife was cheating on him a $300 WiLife digital clock, equipped with a spy camera. The man put the clock on his bedside nightstand, and the images it captured were sent, through the power lines, to a computer.
The executive set up the system to alert him, via text message, if there was movement in the master bedroom while he was at work.
Be the first to comment on this story