Surf webcam hacked to perve on sunbathing women at Freshwater Beach
A WEBCAM designed to check waves was ‘hacked’ to instead zoom in on women sunbathing at Freshwater Beach.
A regular surfer, who wished to remain anonymous, sent screenshots to the Manly Daily showing beachgoers relaxing on the sand, unaware they were being filmed.
Camera operator SURFit offers a comprehensive view of peninsula beaches by streaming live video.
The website does not allow viewers complete control of the camera, but when logged in via Facebook, a user can select camera options.
A spokesman for SURFit said he was shocked that the cameras had been interfered with but assured that he had already taken steps to prevent a repeat of it happening.
He admitted the cameras had been hijacked, and that it had been done one other time. The camera was replaced and upgraded with a security patch.
On the particular day these images were taken, someone overrode the “command protocol” of the camera on Freshwater beach, he said.
“That is the only way they would have been able to do that,” the spokesman said. “It is hard to know how they did it … even (if it was hacked) you only have the ability to send certain commands, all the commands are sent by someone saying move left, or right or up or down.”
Despite making these admissions, late yesterday the SURFit spokesman emailed the Manly Daily suggesting the screenshots had been manipulated.
The user who supplied the pictures said he was technically incapable of altering an image.
The SURFit spokesman did not respond to calls for further comment.
Surf Life Saving Sydney Northern Beaches branch president Doug Menzies said exploiting the cameras like this was “appalling behaviour”.
“As surf life savers we look to provide a wholehearted safe environment in and out of the water,” Mr Menzies said.
“It is the sort of behaviour we would hope no one using our beach would be a part of.”
Northern Beaches crime manager Insp Craig Wonders said police had not been made aware of the misuse of the cameras.
“But if a complaint was lodged we will certainly investigate,” Insp Wonders said.
A spokesman for SURFit said the cameras were designed in a way to stop people having free reign.
“The cameras are designed not to do that, if you are caught using the cameras (in that way) your membership will be cancelled,” he said.
“We sort of looked at the same model Facebook uses, the same way people can alert us to anything like this happening and we shut it down.”
The man who contacted the Manly Daily said he was concerned for people’s privacy.
“I just don’t think it is right that someone uses a public service to perv on women, whoever it is should pay for what they have done,” he said.
Police said hacking into the cameras could be treated as a criminal matter.
SURFit’s spokesman declined to state where the cameras were set up but a Surf Life Saving NSW spokesman said none were located on their clubs.
It would appear that the majority are hoisted on privately owned buildings.
Each beach has about 20 camera angles, which allow users to look at set views.
But on Monday, October 10, the camera angles were different, focusing on sand instead of surf and singling out particular women.
“I logged on to the page and I wanted to look at Freshie, the first thing I saw was a close up of girls lying on the beach in bikinis. I watched it for a while, it was basically panning in and out checking out different girls,” the anonymous source said.
The camera scoured the beach on and off for about 20 minutes and the person controlling the camera was repeatedly zooming in on one woman, who at one point was zoomed in on while bending over.
“One of the issues I see is the balance of giving people the enjoyment of lifestyle and not providing this type of service at all,” the SURFit spokesman said.
“You can see whales and dolphins and all sorts of things.”
He argued the benefits of the system far outweighed the negatives.
“It really reduces crowding on the beach. Our cameras show which spaces are crowded and which are not. For a beginner surfer in particular, they can look at the beaches and find the best place that suites them,” he said.
He said the cameras have been operating since 2000.
“The only feedback we have ever had about the cameras is positive,” he said. “People have complimented the speed and clarity.
Professor of law at Sydney University, Barbara McDonald said while using the camera for an act other than their intention was immoral, it may not be illegal.
The specialist in privacy said: “There are various criminal offences — local, state and federal level — by this person who hijacked this system.
“But it is actually sometimes these sorts of conduct which slip through the different cracks and end up being a breach of nothing and really it ought to be a breach of something.”
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Originally published as Camera spies on women at Sydney beach