In the wrong hands, secret cameras can ruin lives — but they can also prove wrong-doing and do good. BBC Panorama producer Joe Plomin takes the reader through the ethical minefields in this ground-breaking book. – John Sweeney, BBC reporter
Hidden Cameras: Everything You Need to Know About Covert Recording, Undercover Cameras and Secret Filming, by Joe Plomin
(Click here for an eTextbook edition of the book.)
Publisher’s Description
The complete and authoritative guide to the use of hidden cameras to expose abuse or wrongdoing.
Providing authoritative information on the practicalities of using hidden cameras to expose abuse or wrongdoing, this book is vital reading for anyone who may use or encounter secret filming. It gives specific advice on using phones or covert cameras and covers the complex legal and ethical issues that need to be considered.
Secret filming is no longer the preserve of specialists, professional journalists and private investigators. Drawing on the author’s own experience producing undercover documentaries and wearing secret cameras, this book explains covert recording for the general public, including specific advice on the practicalities of using a phone or covert camera to record evidence. It considers the legal and ethical issues and provides vital information for anyone who may use or encounter secret filming, including the people or organisations that might be filmed, regulators, social workers, local government officials and anyone who may encounter it in court. It also looks to the future of covert filming and the implications of technological advances, such as drone cameras.
Reviews
‘No one understands secret filming like Joe Plomin. This book is essential reading for all those trying to hold power to account in the digital age.’
– Paul Mason, journalist and broadcaster‘Joe Plomin is one of the most thoughtful and dedicated journalists with whom I have had the honour of working. These are qualities that shine through in this book. The stories based on his years of using secret cameras to expose wrongdoing make this a very human exploration of covert filming. It is a master-class not just in how to use the technology, but also in the ethical considerations and careful thinking that should lie behind every decision to switch on a hidden camera.’
– Alison Holt, BBC Social Affairs Correspondent, Royal Television Society Specialist Journalist of the Year, 2015 and Winner of the Orwell Prize for Exposing Britain’s Social Evils, 2015
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Hidden Cameras is published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers (JKP).
JKP have also published Intimate Partner Sexual Violence: A Multidisciplinary Guide to Improving Services and Support for Survivors of Rape and Abuse in which there is a chapter written by Barbara Roberts titled ‘Responding to Christian Survivors of Intimate Partner Sexual Violence’.
(Click here for a Kindle edition [Affiliate link]).
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A Cry For Justice 
I’m glad that you posted this. I know that it seems wrong for good people to secretly film or record others, but if you are dealing with narcissists, it’s the only way to get to the truth. So many times I have been accused of doing or saying bad things that they (the narcissists) have actually done or said. The accusations are out there and you have no defense. If the conversations have been recorded then you can defend yourself if needed.
I also want to tell all of you how this came to me through prayer. It happened before my family fell apart. I was praying one evening and I looked up at my husband and said, “We need a recorder.” He said, “Why would we need that?” My answer was, “I don’t know, we just do.” It was just a thought in my head that wouldn’t go away. So we went out and bought one (not needing or wanting to record anyone at the time) and it has proven to be valuable in certain situations.
Evil will stay hidden unless it is exposed to the light of truth. Sometimes it is the camera or recorder that exposes it.