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takyon writes:

A homeowner in Longboat Key, Florida has been accused of secretly recording Airbnb guests with a camera hidden in a smoke alarm:

A tiny black dot on the Longboat Key bedroom smoke detector was enough to alert an Indiana couple that something was wrong. Sure enough, when the couple got a closer look, what appeared to be a smoke detector was actually a camera pointing directly at the bed, according to ABC Action News.

Derek Starnes, in a call to ABC Action News, said he and his wife were "freaked out" by the incident. Starnes explained he saw a black hole on the smoke detector and took it down. That's when he found a camera recording onto an SD card and called the police. [...] "We seized a lot of computer storage data devices, hard drives, computers, laptops SD cards anything that would store data," Lt. Bob Bourque told ABC Action News. "We don't know if there are local victims someone who may have been dating him or a companion that doesn't realize they are being videotaped, and then we have the other side of who he rented to through Airbnb."

[...] [The homeowner Wayne] Natt told police in a statement that it was for sex parties he hosted at the home, ABC Action News reported. Natt told police the cameras were for his personal use and not on when guests are in the home, but police told WFLA the cameras can be operated remotely. Police also found several videos, including one of the Indiana couple. "He says that everyone videoed had knowledge he was videoing them," Bourque told ABC Action News. What we said to that was... if people are consenting to recording sexual activity why is it hidden in a smoke alarm? He said it was for recording sexual activity."

Bourque told reporters Natt's Airbnb account has been active for two years.

Also at Ars Technica, WFLA, and ABC Action News with a 2:13 autoplaying safe for work video.

Original Submission