As governments look for new ways to spy on people, the commercial surveillance business is getting creative. One of the weirder offerings: a video and audio recording device hidden inside a baby seat.
A report on surveillance equipment sales to the Colombian government from Privacy International shows a flyer for the baby car seat, modelled on a product from British surveillance equipment company LMW Electronics. It doubles as a fully functional spying rig, boasting “the best possible standalone, covert surveillance” with a pan, tilt, and zoom camera. You can retrieve secret timestamped recordings from a USB drive lodged in the seat.
Baby monitors and accessories promise to keep parents more connected to their kids, but this fake baby seat takes things in a strange direction. It’s designed to help governments spy on people by swaddling snooping equipment in an innocuous, child-friendly cover, not to stop overprotective parents from freaking out.
Though I guess you could use it if you want to be damn sure your baby’s not up to mischief.
[Motherboard via Computer World]
Screenshot: Privacy International