Reddit users passed around compromising photos from hacked webcams
Users discuss creepiness of watching empty homes, knitting old ladies and sleeping children, but not watching and sharing pictures of unknowing women
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Reddit users have been sharing compromising pictures from a website filled with hacked webcam feeds from people’s houses it emerged today, as watchdogs warned internet users that their own cameras could be at risk of appearing on the site.
Two months ago, a Reddit user posted a link to the page that the Information Commissioner’s Office warned internet users about today, Insecam, and users proceeded to search through the feeds and share what they found.
While most of the webcams on the sites in question show empty houses and living rooms, some Reddit users picked through the site to find cameras showing women at home and elsewhere.
They shares photos of a “nice girl in Colombia” as well as women in living rooms in Hong Kong and Italy. One photo appears to be taken from a CCTV camera in a pole dancing club.
But other feeds that were shared showed more domestic images, which users also took an interest in.
“Is it more or less creepy that I prefer the old lady who just knits?” said one.
Another said that they were didn’t like watching the knitting lady. “This links to a living room where if you browse during the evening, she usually just sits there knitting,” said one user. “Creepy.”
Others mentioned that they found watching empty houses disturbing. “I browsed through one of those unsecured webcam sites before and saw a lot of sleeping children and got creeped out,” said one user.
“I get creeped out when nobody is home and I'm just watching an empty house,” said another.
Users passed around links from Insecam, which the UK’s ICO warned users about today, as well as other sites collating open webcam feeds. Insecam claims that it was set up to encourage users to be aware of their security settings, an argument that is echoed on the Reddit page.
“This site has been designed in order to show the importance of the security settings,” a message on the site reads. “To remove your public camera from this site and make it private the only thing you need to do is to change your camera default password."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments