I spy with my little hidden camera...

A spy camera bulb and a spy camera disguised in a clock. PHOTOS | SALATON NJAU |  NATION MEDIA GROUP

By ISABELLA MUKUMU

In Summary

What it can do

• The mini cameras are toppling CCTVs because of their portability and affordability.
• For memory capacity, there are between 8GB and 32GB cameras that can record for a minimum of three hours and up to four days. This also depends on battery life.
• They can be connected to a phone and computer for sound.

You’ve got to watch your back. That seems to be the new security brief for individuals and companies if the demand for mini cameras is anything to go by.

nShare

These cameras are mounted cleverly on every item at home and at work. Managers and parents respectively want to know who is misusing company resources and to be sure they are living with the right person at home for a nanny.

Whether it is for your car alarm and tracking device or for your nanny camera, the business of spying has become bigger with technological advancements.

Demand for closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras used in business premises is slowly reducing as people go for “silent” mini spy cameras.

Used by journalists, entrepreneurs, suspecting spouses, parents and even politicians, the spy cameras have brought both the good and the bad out of various scenarios.

Some of the best-selling mini cameras are on wall and table clocks, pens, sunglasses and car alarms.

Smoke detectors

Others can be found on wrist watches, coat hooks, table mirrors, flash disks, button pin holes, caps, wall paintings, neck ties, ID cards, cigarette lighters, smoke detectors and even bulbs. The list is long.

All these items are used as modern surveillance pieces to survey, monitor and expose unsuspecting individuals bent on doing anything other than good.

Patrick Njema of Patts Communications, an online company that sells spy cameras, says huge demand pushed him from selling CCTV cameras, which are more expensive.

“Installing CCTV cameras is more expensive than most small business people can afford. The camera itself costs up to Sh50,000 so they requested for smaller and easy to operate cameras,” he said.

The prices of spy cameras range from as little as Sh4,500 for a flash disk recorder to Sh9,800 for a remote surveillance clock camera. A spy pen goes for Sh5,500 while a spy wall clock is Sh8,500.

He would buy the nanny cameras cheaply from various electronic shops in Nairobi because they were not popular. Then more Kenyans became aware of their capabilities and demand sky-rocketed.

He sold them to his previous clients who were pleased and he now sells more than 30 pieces monthly.

Alice Masiga of Intelwise Technologies says most of the people buying spy cameras are keen on monitoring the use of company assets.