“Had I not entered this business, I would never have known how many problems husbands and wives have.”
That was the caption of a recent video posted by the popular Facebook page Cholti. The video featured a businessman selling hidden cameras disguised as everyday objects.
At first glance, it seems like another social media video showcasing unusual gadgets. But the longer it runs, the more unsettling it becomes.
A camera hidden inside a cap. Another inside a notepad. A power bank. A lighter. A key ring. A wall socket. A table clock. A pen. Even a pair of glasses.
According to the seller, the devices can record in full HD, stream footage directly to a mobile phone, and even capture audio.
In other words, invading someone’s private life has become a product that can be openly demonstrated, advertised, and sold.
The obvious question is, who is this market really serving?
The businessman claims many of his customers are suspicious spouses. Others are expatriates who want to monitor their homes from abroad -- watching who enters, who leaves, and what happens inside the house while they are away.
This is where the line between security and surveillance begins to disappear.
There is nothing unusual about installing a visible CCTV camera to protect a shop, office, or public space. Hidden cameras are different. They are designed not to inform people they are being recorded, but to ensure they never know.
That is not security.
It is surveillance.
And surveillance built on secrecy rarely strengthens relationships. Instead, it replaces trust with suspicion, turning homes into places where privacy quietly disappears.
The implications extend far beyond marital disputes.
If these devices are widely available, they will not remain in the hands of suspicious spouses alone. They can just as easily end up with blackmailers, voyeurs, and sexual predators. Hidden cameras can be placed inside hotel rooms, rental apartments, changing rooms, offices, or other private spaces, creating opportunities for non-consensual recordings, extortion, and severe violations of personal dignity.
That is precisely what makes them so frightening.
An ordinary person cannot reasonably inspect every clock, charger, socket, or pen before entering a room. The very purpose of these devices is to remain invisible.
Equally troubling is the way they are being marketed.
The Facebook page that published the video reportedly has nearly four million followers. Millions watched it, while thousands shared it. This is no longer simply about one shop selling surveillance equipment. It reflects the growing normalization of hidden surveillance as just another clever gadget.
When spy cameras are promoted as practical solutions to relationship problems—or as entertaining technology—the message becomes dangerously simple: secretly recording other people is acceptable.
It is not.
Technology itself is not the enemy. Surveillance cameras play an important role in protecting homes, businesses, and public spaces when they are used transparently and lawfully.
But technology that exists primarily to invade private lives deserves far greater scrutiny.
Should hidden spy cameras be so easily available? Should social media platforms freely promote products designed to record people without their knowledge? Should devices capable of destroying someone’s privacy be treated like ordinary consumer electronics?
These questions concern everyone because the next victim may not be a stranger.
It could be a colleague, a friend, a family member—or ourselves.
Privacy is one of the foundations of personal freedom. If secret surveillance becomes normal, that foundation begins to disappear. And once privacy becomes something people can buy their way around, it ceases to be a right and becomes a privilege.
Sahad Amin is a journalist and researcher.