A hidden camera is a still or video camera

Video camera

A video camera is a camera used for electronic motion picture acquisition, initially developed by the television industry but now common in other applications as well. The earliest video cameras were those of John Logie Baird, based on the electromechanical Nipkow disk and used by the BBC in...

 used to film people without their knowledge. The camera is "hidden" because it is either not visible to the subject being filmed, or is disguised as another object. Hidden cameras have become popular for household surveillance

Surveillance

Surveillance is the monitoring of the behavior, activities, or other changing information, usually of people. It is sometimes done in a surreptitious manner...

, and can be built into common household objects such as smoke detector

Smoke detector

A smoke detector is a device that detects smoke, typically as an indicator of fire. Commercial, industrial, and mass residential devices issue a signal to a fire alarm system, while household detectors, known as smoke alarms, generally issue a local audible and/or visual alarm from the detector...

s, clock radios, motion detector

Motion detector

A motion detector is a device for motion detection. That is, it is a device that contains a physical mechanism or electronic sensor that quantifies motion that can be either integrated with or connected to other devices that alert the user of the presence of a moving object within the field of view...

s, ball caps, plant

Plant

Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...

s, and cellphones. Hidden cameras may also be used commercially or industrially as security cameras.

A hidden camera can be wire

Wire

A wire is a single, usually cylindrical, flexible strand or rod of metal. Wires are used to bear mechanical loads and to carry electricity and telecommunications signals. Wire is commonly formed by drawing the metal through a hole in a die or draw plate. Standard sizes are determined by various...

d or wireless

Wireless

Wireless telecommunications is the transfer of information between two or more points that are not physically connected. Distances can be short, such as a few meters for television remote control, or as far as thousands or even millions of kilometers for deep-space radio communications...

. The former will be connected to a TV, VCR, or Digital video recorder

Digital video recorder

A digital video recorder , sometimes referred to by the merchandising term personal video recorder , is a consumer electronics device or application software that records video in a digital format to a disk drive, USB flash drive, SD memory card or other local or networked mass storage device...

 (DVR), whereas a wireless hidden camera can be used to transmit a video signal to a receiver within a small radius (up to a few hundred feet).

Some hidden camera television shows have led to lawsuit

Lawsuit

A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...

s or being denied to air by the people who were trapped in set-ups that they found unpleasant.

Spy cameras

Ultraminiature still cameras

Subminiature photography

Subminiature photography is photography with unusually small cameras using unusually small film formats. It is distinct from photomicrography, photographing microscopic subjects with a camera which is not particularly small....

 have long been used for surreptitious photography, using film

Photographic film

Photographic film is a sheet of plastic coated with an emulsion containing light-sensitive silver halide salts with variable crystal sizes that determine the sensitivity, contrast and resolution of the film...

 as small as 8×11 mm. In particular, Minox

Minox

The Minox is a subminiature camera conceived in 1922 and invented in 1936 by German-Latvian Walter Zapp, which Latvian factory VEF manufactured from 1937 to 1943. After World War II, the camera was redesigned and production resumed in Germany in 1948. Originally envisioned as a luxury item, it...

 cameras were used for clandestinely photographing documents close up for espionage

Espionage

Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...

. Today, spy cameras can be bought by anyone for as low as $6 USD, and these modern cameras can be as small as a keychain and take high resolution video.http://www.wordplop.com/2010/10/15/the-808-keychain-micro-camera/

Hidden camera shows

Hidden cameras are also sometimes used in reality television to catch participants in unusual or absurd situations. Participants will either know they will be filmed, but not always exactly when or where, or do not know they have been filmed until later, at which point they may sign a release or give consent to the footage being produced for a show. This latter sub-genre of unwitting participants began in the 1940s with Allen Funt

Allen Funt

Allen Funt was an American television producer, director and writer, television personality, best known as the creator and host of Candid Camera from the 1940s to 1980s, as either a regular television show or a television series of specials...

's Candid Microphone

Candid Camera

Candid Camera is a hidden camera/practical joke reality television series created and produced by Allen Funt, which initially began on radio as Candid Microphone June 28, 1947...

theatrical short films . In 1996 the genre was given an overhaul by Travis Draft

Travis Draft

Travis Draft began his career at Chicago's The Second City in 1992 as an observer, working behind the scenes while attending film school at Columbia College...

 who introduced the glasses cam with his show Buzzkill. The show took hidden camera to a whole new level where the performer (Draft Himself and Cronies) were the focal point.

A few of many hidden camera television shows

Show Name	Channel	Years of Production	Number of Episodes
$25 Million Dollar Hoax $25 Million Dollar Hoax $25 Million Dollar Hoax is an unscripted television series that was originally shown on American network NBC in November 2004. It is based on a United Kingdom show titled The Million Pound Hoax, broadcast on Sky One earlier that year....	NBC NBC The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...	2004	3
Animal Kidding	Animal Planet Animal Planet Animal Planet is an American cable tv specialty channel that launched on October 1, 1996. It is distributed by Discovery Communications. A high-definition simulcast of the channel launched on September 1, 2007.-History:...	2003	16
Balls of Steel Balls of Steel (TV series) Balls of Steel is a Channel 4 comedy series developed by Objective Productions and hosted by Mark Dolan, his special guests would perform stunts and hold their nerve during hidden camera set-ups in the presence of celebrities or the British public....	Channel 4 (UK)	2005
Boiling Points Boiling Points Boiling Points is a prank reality television show, much like the format used on Candid Camera. It is broadcast on MTV in the United States. In each half-hour episode, annoying situations are set up and deliberately inflicted on one or more young adults who are unaware that they are being tested...	MTV	2003-2005
Breaking Up with Shannen Doherty Breaking Up with Shannen Doherty In Breaking Up with Shannen Doherty was a television series starring Shannen Doherty....	Oxygen	2006	14
Burned	MTV	2003	30
Buzzkill	MTV	1995
Candid Camera Candid Camera Candid Camera is a hidden camera/practical joke reality television series created and produced by Allen Funt, which initially began on radio as Candid Microphone June 28, 1947...
Celebrity Undercover	MTV		20
Cheaters Cheaters Cheaters is a weekly syndicated hidden camera reality television series that documents people who are suspected of committing adultery, or cheating, on their partners. Investigations are headed by the "Cheaters Detective Agency". The show is hosted by Joey Greco, the show airs on Saturday nights...
Crossballs: The Debate Show	Comedy Central
Da Ali G Show Da Ali G Show Da Ali G Show is the name of two related satirical TV series created by and starring British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen and featuring the character Ali G....	Channel 4 (UK)
Damage Control Damage Control (TV series) Damage Control is a reality TV series produced by MTV. Hosted by Simple Plan frontman Pierre Bouvier, and directed by Sebastian Doggart, the show was a real-life version of the movie Risky Business. It first aired on MTV on March 6, 2005...	MTV	2005	16
Dirty Sexy Funny: Olivia Lee	Comedy Central UK		8
Faking the Video	MTV	2004	7
Fire Me...Please Fire Me...Please Fire Me...Please is an hour-long hidden camera reality series which aired on CBS in summer 2005. It was based on a BBC series called The Sack Race. Two contestants each reported to a new job at separate locations and figure out how to get fired as close to 3:00 p.m. as possible...	CBS	2005	4
Funny Business
Girls Behaving Badly Girls Behaving Badly Girls Behaving Badly is an American reality comedy television show on the Oxygen cable channel, and is also syndicated to television stations across the United States and Canada by Sony Pictures Television....	Oxygen	2002-2007	72
Guys Behaving Badly	Oxygen	2005	5
Hi-Jinks Hi-Jinks Hi-Jinks is a hidden camera show that premiered on Nick at Nite in 2005. The show is hosted by Leila Sbitani. The show gives parents a chance to play practical jokes on their children, in a similar fashion to Candid Camera...	NIK	2005
Hidden Howie: The Private Life of a Public Nuisance	BRAVO	2005	6
Infarto Infarto Infarto is a hidden camera show on Azteca 13 in Mexico and Azteca América in the United States. People appearing on the show have been subjected to pranks such as the victim believing that they will be sacrificed in a cult ritual or believing that they will be murdered by axe-wielding neighbors in...	Azteca América Azteca América Azteca América is a broadcast television network marketed toward Spanish-speaking families residing in the United States. As a rapidly-growing Spanish language network, Azteca América now reaches 89% of the Hispanic households in the U.S., operating in sixty-two markets nationwide. Wholly owned by...
Instant Recall Instant Recall Instant Recall is an American hidden camera, game show hosted by Wink Martindale. The series premiered on GSN on Thursday, March 4, 2010 at 8:30 p.m., with a new episode airing each Thursday for eight weeks....	GSN	2010	8
Invasion of the Hidden Cameras (When Hidden Cameras Attack)	FOX		12
Jamie Kennedy Experiment	WB	2003
Just For Laughs Just For Laughs Gags Just For Laughs Gags is a Canadian silent comedy/hidden camera reality television show that is under the Just For Laughs brand. On December 26, 2002, JFL Gags began airing on CTV and The Comedy Network in Canada...
Just Kidding
Kids Behaving Badly	Oxygen	2005	10
Laugh Out Loud	M-Net M-Net M-Net is a subscription-funded television channel in South Africa, established in 1986 by Naspers....
Meet the Marks	FOX	2002	7
MotorMouth Motormouth Motormouth was a Saturday morning children's television series that was produced by Television South and aired across the ITV network for four series, running between 3 September 1988 and 4 April 1992...	VH1
My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss is a television show on the Fox Network that was filmed in July 2004 and aired in 2004-2005. Similar to My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance, it was a parody of shows such as The Apprentice. The contestants performed several tasks that they were told would help them win a job at...
My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiancé My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiancé was a one-shot television reality show on the Fox Network during the 2003-2004 season. The show consisted of six hour-long episodes.-Plot summary:...
Naked Camera Naked Camera Naked Camera is an Irish hidden camera comedy television show which began airing on RTÉ Two in 2005. It is set and filmed in the Republic of Ireland, mostly in Dublin. Its concept is similar to that of the UK show Trigger Happy TV but can be seen as a descendent of the candid camera elements in...	RTE RTE RTÉ is the abbreviation for Raidió Teilifís Éireann, the public broadcasting service of the Republic of Ireland.RTE may also refer to:* Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 25th Prime Minister of Turkey...	2005-2007	18
Oblivious Oblivious Oblivious is a comedy game show that aired within the United States of America on TNN/Spike TV at various points between 2002 and 2004.It was also aired on Challenge in the UK, Ireland and The Comedy Channel in Australia and still airs on Real TV in South Korea and on TV2 Zebra in Norway. It no...
People Traps	Animal Planet	2002	1
Peter Jacobsen Plugged In
Punk'd Punk'd Punk'd is an American hidden camera/practical joke reality television series that first aired on MTV in 2003 and was created by Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg, produced and hosted by Ashton Kutcher. It bore a resemblance to both the classic hidden camera show Candid Camera and to TV's Bloopers...	MTV		64
Que Locura Que Locura ¡Qué Locura! is a television comedy show from Venezuela. In English, "¡Qué Locura!" translates as "What Madness!" or "What Insanity!"-Show information:...	Venevisión Venevisión Venevisión is one of Venezuela's largest television networks and a Venezuelan cable and terrestrial television network, which is owned and presided over by Gustavo Cisneros...	2001
ROOM 401 Room 401 Room 401 was a hidden camera/reality television series on MTV, executive produced by Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg. It was named after the room Harry Houdini died in at Detroit's Grace Hospital in 1926. The show also used some of his famous acts....	MTV
The Real Wedding Crashers The Real Wedding Crashers The Real Wedding Crashers is an American prank/hidden camera series on NBC, inspired by the 2005 film Wedding Crashers, that premiered on April 23, 2007....	NBC	2007	6
Really Naked Truth	Playboy		22
Red Handed	UPN	1999
Scare Tactics Scare Tactics Scare Tactics is a hidden camera/comedy television show, produced by Hallock Healey Entertainment. Its first two seasons aired from April 2003 to December 2004. After a hiatus, the show returned for a third season, beginning July 9, 2008. The first season of the show was hosted by Shannen Doherty....	Syfy Syfy Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
Show Me the Funny Show Me The Funny Show Me The Funny was a British reality show in which a group of ten comedians of varying experience visit ten different cities around the UK, performing tasks that are somehow meant to equip them with local knowledge to work into five-minute-long new live routines, which they then showcase in...	FOX	1998	155
Skunked TV Skunked TV Skunked TV is a children's television prank show on Discovery Kids. On this show, children are pranked by seeing animals do weird things . The host is Madai Zaldivar and the co-host is Chuck Cureau...	NBC	2004	13
Sledgehammer	VH1	2001	5
Spy TV Spy TV Spy TV is an American hidden camera reality television series hosted by Michael Ian Black and Ali Landry. The show was broadcast on NBC in which pranks were pulled on people by their friends. The show was cancelled after two seasons....	NBC	2001	27
Taxicab Confessions Taxicab Confessions Taxicab Confessions is a television series of hidden camera documentaries that have aired on HBO since January 1995. In segments taped in New York City and Las Vegas, the taxi drivers are also producers who steer both the vehicle and the conversations with passengers.When passengers enter the cab,...	HBO
That's Funny		2004	80
Totally Hidden Extreme Magic Them Them or THEM may refer to:*Them, the English third person accusative plural personal pronoun; see English personal pronouns* Them, Denmark, a town in Silkeborg municipality* Them , an Northern Irish rock band featuring Van Morrison...	NBC		2
Totally Busted Totally Busted Totally Busted is an adult hidden camera practical joke series that ran original episodes from 2003-2006 on Playboy TV.-Format:Totally Busted bears a strong resemblance to past practical joke shows like Candid Camera and Punk'd...	PlayboyTV
Totally Hidden Video Totally Hidden Video Totally Hidden Video was an American television show that aired on the Fox Network from 1989 to 1992, with Steve Skrovan as host for the first two years and Mark Pitta taking over in 1991...	FOX
Tourist Traps		2001	6
Trapped in TV Guide	TVG	2006
Trigger Happy TV Trigger Happy TV Trigger Happy TV was a hidden camera/practical joke reality television program. The original British edition of the show, produced by Absolutely Productions, starred Dom Joly and ran for two series on the British television channel Channel 4 from 2000 until 2002...		UK 2000 / US 2003	13
TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes
Ultimate Revenge Ultimate Revenge Ultimate Revenge was a reality TV program about fulfilling the fantasy of anyone who wants to seek revenge on their nearest and dearest. Elaborate practical jokes were played on family and friends instigated by their own relatives and friends. It was hosted by Ryan Seacrest. Several episodes...	TNN/SPIKE	2001	26
What Would You Do? Primetime: What Would You Do? Primetime: What Would You Do?, more commonly known and referred to as What Would You Do?, an American television newsmagazine broadcast on ABC since 2008 as part of the Primetime series. The show is about setting up everyday scenarios that reflect on how people react, why they react, and when they...	ABC	since 2009
World Shut Your Mouth World Shut Your Mouth (TV series) World Shut Your Mouth is a hidden camera television series starring Dom Joly.Dom Joly made his name on the similar series Trigger Happy TV on Channel 4, and it is from its great success that he was hired by the BBC to produce new programming. His first effort was an unsuccessful spoof chat show...	BBC	2005	7
You're On! You're On! You're On! is an American television game show aired from 1998–1999 on Nickelodeon. The show took a premise similar to Candid Camera; however, to adopt the format better for a children's game show, You're On! featured youth contestants trying to convince a passersby to complete a series of...	Nickelodeon	1998
You've Got a Friend (My New Best Friend)	MTV	2004	8

Hidden camera pilot episodes or unaired shows

5 Non Blondes	VH1	2004
Celeb Look-Alike Show
Clipped Clipped Clipped is a video featuring five tracks by the Australian hard rock band AC/DC. First released in 1991, it contained three tracks from The Razors Edge and two from Blow Up Your Video....	February	2005
Close Encounters	USA	2001
Evil Puppet Masters	SPIKE TV	2003
Exploding Baloney	NIK	2004
First Night (aka Skid Row)		2006
Gagsters	WB	2004
Game Show In My Head Game Show in My Head Game Show in My Head is an American television game show airing on CBS produced by Ashton Kutcher and hosted by Joe Rogan. The show premiered on CBS on January 3, 2009 and aired on Saturdays at 8PM Eastern Standard Time.-History:...	CBS	2007
Go Sick	ABC	2001
Guy's Night Out
Hotel Hell	FOX	2001
The Joke's On You The Joke's on You The Joke's on You is the second album by Excel, released in 1989. The song "The Joke's on You" was already released on the previous album, Split Image....	NBC	2006
The Jon Lovitz Show	CBS	2005
Mabe in the USA
Make My Day Make My Day "Make My Day" was the Macedonian entry in the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest, performed in English by Martin Vučić.The song is an up-tempo number, with Vučić telling his lover that he is tired of being mistreated by her and that he is prepared to end the relationship over this...	WB	2003
Man Maid		2007
Only Human	CBS	1993
Only Joking	FOX	2000
Outfoxxed	TBS	2003
The Papdits The Papdits The Papdits is a television show airing on CBS's InnerTube service, premiering in 2007, satirizing a newly emigrated family from India. The show features a father, mother, daughter, son, and grandmother, and is written and produced by writers from Da Ali G Show.-History:Ant Hines was the writer...	CBS	2006
Payback Payback Payback may refer to:*Payback period, the period of time required for the return on an investment*Revenge*Operation Payback, an ongoing hacker operation*Payback , a 1999 film, starring Mel Gibson; remake of the 1967 film Point Blank...	NBC
Relative Chaos Relative Chaos Relative Chaos is a TV movie starring Christopher Gorham and Nicholas Brendon. It premiered on ABC Family in 2006. It was directed by Steven Robman.-Plot:...		2006
S.O.B	BET
Scare TV	WB Kids
Shameless Shameless Shameless is a British television drama series set in Manchester on the fictional Chatsworth council estate. Produced by Company Pictures for Channel 4, the first seven-episode series aired weekly on Tuesday nights at 10pm from 13 January 2004...	MTV
Stung	MTV	2001
Sweet Revenge	NBC	2000
Untitled Martin Lawrence Project	TBS	2004
VH1 Undercover	VH1	2001

Shows with hidden camera skits

• Anything for Love
• Dateline
  Dateline NBC
  Dateline NBC, or Dateline, is a U.S. weekly television newsmagazine broadcast by NBC. It previously was NBC's flagship news magazine, but now focuses on true crime stories. It airs Friday at 9 p.m. EST and after football season on Sunday at 7 p.m. EST.-History:Dateline is historically notable for...
  
  
• David Letterman
  David Letterman
  David Michael Letterman is an American television host and comedian. He hosts the late night television talk show, Late Show with David Letterman, broadcast on CBS. Letterman has been a fixture on late night television since the 1982 debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC...
  
  
• The Ellen DeGeneres Show
  The Ellen DeGeneres Show
  The Ellen DeGeneres Show, often shortened to Ellen, is an American television talk show hosted by comedian/actress Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it is produced by Telepictures and airs in syndication, including stations owned by NBC Universal. For its first five seasons, the show...
  
  
• Howie Do It
  Howie Do It
  Howie Do It is a Canadian/American comedy television series, co-commissioned by Global and NBC, that stars Howie Mandel. The series features practical jokes in the vein of earlier shows like Just for Laughs, Punk'd or Candid Camera – the supposed twist being that the cameras are in the open,...
  
  
• Jackass
  Jackass (TV series)
  jackass is an American reality series, originally shown on MTV from 2000 to 2002, featuring people performing various dangerous, crude, ridiculous, self-injuring stunts and pranks...
  
  
• Jay Leno
  Jay Leno
  James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno is an American stand-up comedian and television host.From 1992 to 2009, Leno was the host of NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ,...
  
  
• Jimmy Kimmel Live
  Jimmy Kimmel Live
  Jimmy Kimmel Live! is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and broadcast on ABC.The nightly hour-long show made its debut on January 26, 2003, following Super Bowl XXXVII. Jimmy Kimmel Live! is produced by Jackhole Productions in association with ABC Studios...
  
  
• Noel's House Party
  Noel's House Party
  Noel's House Party was a BBC television light entertainment show hosted by Noel Edmonds that was broadcast live on Saturday evenings throughout the 1990s. It was set in a large house in the fictional village of Crinkley Bottom, leading to much innuendo. The show was broadcast during the...
  
  
• Primetime
• The Man Show
  The Man Show
  The Man Show is an American comedy television show on Comedy Central. It was created in 1999 by its two original co-hosts, Jimmy Kimmel and Adam Carolla, and their executive producer Daniel Kellison.-Format:...
  
  
• Sunday Sunday Night
  Sunday Sunday Night
  Our Sunday Night is the longest-running South Korean television entertainment programme, distributed by MBC. It runs for 155 minutes, including roughly fifteen minutes of advertising...
  
  
• The Chasers War on Everything
• Yes We Canberra

External Links

Hidden Security Camera uses

See also

• Exposé (journalism)
• Lipstick camera
  Lipstick camera
  A lipstick camera is an extremely small video camera which is approximately the size of a typical tube of lipstick. They are useful for capturing images that a conventional camera would not be able to capture due to size or weight constraints....
  
  
• Nanny cam
  Nanny cam
  A Nanny Cam, or Nanny Camera, sensationalized to the phrase "spy camera" is a hidden video camera that has been secretly installed within a common household object...
  
  
• Secret photography
  Secret photography
  Secret photography refers to the use of an image or video recording device to photograph or film a person who is unaware that they are being intentionally photographed or filmed...
  
  
• Surveillance
  Surveillance
  Surveillance is the monitoring of the behavior, activities, or other changing information, usually of people. It is sometimes done in a surreptitious manner...