I recently came across Insecam when I was scrolling through Youtube and stumbled across this video uploaded by investigative journalist Christophe Haubursin. Through the video I learnt about Insecam, a website that displays camera footage for anyone to see from various places across the world.
What is Insecam?
Insecam is a public website self described as “The world biggest directory of online security cameras”. The website displays live network surveillance camera footage from a wide variety of different camera types and features footage from all over the world. It scours the internet for IP cameras without a password and then displays their feed on the website. The site even features filters so viewers can find more specific cameras, such as filtering by country, city, and type of location, such as hotels, cafes or offices.
A brief history of the site
Domain tracking website Whois shows Insecam is a Russian site that has been around since 2014. It didn’t take long before the uncanny nature of the site made major news headlines everywhere. Back in 2014, Insecam was claimed by CBS news to be “broadcasting the live feed of every webcam retaining its default password in the world on its site”. Over 73,000 live camera feeds were found from all over the world in the site, with multiple showing some questionable live feed, including inside people’s homes.
This led to many governments urging the Russian government to take it down. However, this never happened, as the site administrator himself took down all the live feeds, as presented by Haubursin in his video. One week later, the site was up again, only this time, the feed broadcast came only from ‘filtered cameras’ as stated on their home page. The number of cameras displayed on the site fell drastically, and to this day, Insecam is still online.
What are IP cameras and how does the website get access to them?
Internet Protocol (IP) cameras, also known as network security cameras, provide digital surveillance video footage by sending information through the internet or through a local area network (LAN). In order for these cameras to work they require a connection to the internet whether that’s through wifi or an ethernet cable.
Since these cameras function via the internet, technically anyone that finds the correct IP address for a camera can view the feed if it does not have a password protecting it. In order for the page to find this many security cameras it requires the use of specialised software or websites that scan the internet for camera feeds. Insecam confirms this in their FAQ by stating “your camera still will be available to all internet users that use surveillance camera search software and sites like Shodanhq.com”.
Why does the site exist?
Although the site itself showcases live camera footage, it also does encourage people to make their cameras private on the internet. Insecam’s FAQ section highlights that if mailed, they will take specific camera footage down from the website and not display it. By the same token, they also tell people how to avoid having their cameras on display for anyone to see in the first place. “The only solution to make your camera private is to set up a password.” This statement suggests that the website at least partly exists to highlight concerns about privacy with cameras online.
Is this legal?
Insecams FAQ section states “These cameras are not hacked. All cameras listed on the site do not have any password protection.” In theory, the site is not doing anything illegal because it’s showcasing information that anyone who wants to search the web can technically access, they just make it easier for anyone who does. The website has been around for over ten years, suggesting that while raising ethical concerns it is technically legal. The site was in the public eye for long enough for it to have been shut down if it was deemed to be committing any crimes or doing anything illegal. I reached out to Insecam with questions regarding ethical and legal concerns, but did not get a response.
Is it ethical?
The dubious nature of the website may raise privacy concerns already, yet it could be worse. Insecam administrator highlights in the website that they have taken precautions and “only filtered cameras are available now. This way none of the cameras on Insecam invade anybody’s private life.” One quick scroll through the site reveals that some of the live cameras could be considered invasive. At the same time this statement also raises the question: if they have filtered cameras on the website, how many camera feeds are there on the internet that can be counted as personal and invasive for others to find?
Cameras in the UK
As of making this article, Insecam displays 48 camera feeds from different parts of the UK. Of these 48 camera feeds, none are registered to be displaying footage from anywhere in the North East of England. At the same time, the site also warns the location of the cameras is an estimate, the locations are “very approximative and have accuracy in hundreds of miles”. So there is a chance some of these footage can display a scene somewhere in the North East.
How to protect yourself
As already stated, the answer is quite simple: set a password for your IP camera. Make sure to set up a strong password. Simple passwords such as password or 1234 can easily be bypassed, and without notice you could have your own feed being displayed to anonymous individuals on the internet. Insecam also provides contact information to reach them if you want a camera removed from their site, all you have to do is contact them and they will stop displaying it.
Should this site exist?
When I was researching for this article, I inevitably had to access Insecam and see how it worked and functioned. Within five seconds of entering the site. My first thought was a sense of intrusion, that I was doing something wrong. My second thought was that this site should not exist. The site treads a very thin line between what is legal and ethical, and it’s been ten years and it is still up. Despite legally being allowed to function, it very much feels illegal, and uncomfortable to know it exists. If I had a say in the matter, I really don’t think the site should exist. The only thing I can do in the meantime is whenever I buy an IP camera, I’ll make sure to set a strong password, or I may unknowingly have a stranger watching over me.
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