China vows to crack down on illicit spycam recordings after rise in hotel room voyeurism cases

SINGAPORE: China’s top court has vowed to crack down on illicit recordings and the illegal use and sale of hidden recording equipment after voyeurism cases were reported in hotel rooms and guesthouses across the country. 

In a statement released on Wednesday (Dec 11), the Supreme People’s Court shared details about four voyeurism cases, two of which had taken place in hotels and guesthouses.

“In recent years, there have been cases of voyeurism from time to time, causing widespread concern in society,” the court said. 

In one case involving five suspects, hidden cameras were installed in multiple hotel rooms and guesthouses between April 2021 to January 2022, and were used to film guests engaging in sexual activities.

The footage was sold through instant messaging apps and perpetrators made a “total profit” of more than 290,000 yuan (US$39,930), the court said. 

One of the suspects, identified by his surname Shi, had been primarily responsible for installing the hidden cameras on the properties. He was assisted by four others, who provided bank accounts to collect money made from the online video sales. 

Shi also processed and sold the footage, the court said. 

The case was first heard in the Wuxing District People’s Court in Huzhou city, part of the eastern Zhejiang province. Prosecutors said the suspects’ actions of using hidden cameras to secretly film sexual activities and later selling the footage for profit had “constituted the crime of making and selling obscene materials for profit”. 

Shi played a major role and was the “principal offender”, prosecutors said, adding that the other defendants were accomplices and should be given lighter or mitigated sentences. 

All five men had confessed to their crimes after they were arrested and “voluntarily pleaded guilty”, the court said, sentencing them to fixed prison terms of up to 10 years and fines ranging from between 10,000 yuan to 300,000 yuan.

Voyeurism crimes have become prevalent in other parts of East Asia. 

In South Korea, widespread cases of spycam crimes have sparked fierce public protests, with thousands of cases reported each year - majority of victims being women. Female police officers are also known to conduct regular inspections in public toilets to check for hidden cameras and other illegal recording equipment.

In China, spycam cases have been reported in the country since 2019. 

One case which took place in Shandong province, involved more than 100,000 recordings of guests in hotel rooms, being live-streamed and filmed by 300 mini cameras installed inside lamps, television sets, air conditioners and electrical sockets. It resulted in the arrests of 29 people.

Chinese authorities say “lawbreakers” install hidden cameras for the purposes of eavesdropping and “engaging in criminal activities” like extortion, cheating and gambling, which “seriously infringes” on personal privacy and information security. 

People who illegally manufacture and sell these devices, as well as those who circulate recorded footage online for sale and dissemination, are worsening the issue and allowing it to “flow into society”, authorities say. 

Chinese media reports throughout 2024 have detailed several incidents of hotel and homestay guests discovering cameras hidden in rooms as well as in inconspicuous places like air vents, bedside lamps or within walls. 

A report by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV revealed an organised black market of explicit spycam hotel footage, with videos being openly shared online and marketed as “hotel spy cam” and “real time monitoring”. 

In addition to the spycam case in Huzhou, another case was heard by a court in Hunan province.

The incident had taken place earlier in March 2021 and saw two defendants, both male and surnamed Yan, secretly filming others using high-tech spying equipment on e-commerce platforms. 

The men installed equipment in rooms in three hotels and used smartphone apps to pair the equipment to their smartphones. 

The men viewed the explicit real-time footage using apps.

When they noticed people engaging in sexual activity, they would download the footage onto their smartphones and also save the incriminating footage on their laptops. 

They were only exposed months later in October that same year, when a guest alerted his hotel and called the police after discovering a hidden camera in his hotel room. One of the defendants confessed to his crimes while the other had voluntarily surrendered himself to the police, the court said. 

Speaking to the Chinese state news agency Xinhua, a spokesperson for the Supreme People’s Court said the cases exposed the illegal recording industry in China and reminded members of the public to stay vigilant and guard against privacy breaches in daily life. 

The court also vowed to “strengthen cooperation and coordination with the relevant departments” and “resolutely cut off the underground industrial chain” of illicit recordings.