Tourists 'violated' by surveillance cameras

Oct. 23, 2010 - PRLog -- http://www.tourexpi.com/en-intl/news.html~nid=32741

Maggie Maruff and her husband, from Barossa Valley in South Australia, found the cameras during their recent stay in the Best of Magnetic luxury house on Magnetic Island, The Townsville Bulletin reports.



The couple said they were horrified to discover the cameras on the deck, in the living area, and even in the bedrooms. Mrs Maruff said the thought of being spied on during their private getaway at the $500-a-night tropical villa left her feeling shocked and violated.



"I was just sitting on the deck reading when out of the corner of my eye I saw something odd - then said, 'Oh my God! That's a camera'," she said.


"To think that someone was watching every move we made just horrified us - that at any time of the day or night, whoever controlled these cameras could log on and see what we were doing.”



Mrs Maruff said the unannounced presence of the cameras was a major breach of their privacy.



"We mentioned our concerns to the rental manager, who said that the cameras were only used when the house wasn't occupied, for security reasons - but how do we know that?” Mrs Maruff said.



"It was so creepy that I ended up covering them all up with plastic shopping bags, rubber bands and sticky-tape."



Best of Magnetic co-owner Kelvin Dyson said the cameras had been installed at the Melbourne-based owner's request for security.



Mr Dyson said after hearing of the Maruff's concerns, he had contacted the owner, to be told that the cameras were operational, but that no one could access the footage.



He said he was told the cameras recorded to a hard drive, which was located inside a locked cupboard that could not be accessed remotely, and re-recorded over itself every fortnight.



Mr Dyson also said the presence of the cameras was mentioned in both the home compendium and the terms and conditions at the time of booking.



"The house is in an isolated position, and the cameras are an external security feature to catch anyone snooping around outside or stealing the clients' property," he said.

# # #

Tourexpi is one of the major travel and tourism information source of Turkey. We post tourism news to approximately 65.000 points in EU