I was planning to apply for a sit but in the reviews I’ve noticed the HO was accused of being recording the sitter in their home. Reading through the review according to the sitter’s story it is impossible the HO who was INSIDE the house without a camera operating there and according to the sitter story the HO admitted they were recording her.
The odd thing here is the HO’s profile is still up while the sitter’s profile is disabled.
I want to ask the community on what methods we can use as sitters to protect ourselves from such incidents (secretly recording). Is there any tool or method to know? And what we can do to hold the HO accountable outside THS as it seems to me if true her allegations, THS they incline with HOs.
It can be illegal to record people without their knowledge in some jurisdictions. The problem is, unless you have evidence of that, law enforcement can’t help you.
THS can’t do much even with proof, except kick people off the platform. Without proof, they can’t do anything.
In the scenario you described, you don’t actually know the facts. None of us will. THS would not discuss them. No company like this should. It would create questions about member privacy that go beyond any one case. And the company could run into legal problems.
Owners must disclose the presence of any internal and external cameras or recording devices when creating their home listing.
Any internal cameras or recording devices must be disabled for the entire duration of the sit.
I unplug Alexa devices for this very reason.
You can send the link to the HO prior to the sit and ask them to confirm there will be no recording equipment inside the house. Then if they communicate with you in writing about something they ‘saw’ you do, you can report it to THS with evidence, and take further legal action in your local area/ jurisdiction if that’s an option/ if you wish.
You could apply and insist on a video or phone call with HO before confirming the sit - during the conversation you can then broach the subject with the HO quoting what the previous sitter has said in their review and asking for their side of the story .
Most cameras would likely use the wi-fi connection in the house. You could log onto the router (the login details are normally on a sticker on the router) and check in the settings what devices are currently connected to see if there is anything that may be a camera or some odd unknown device. It will also show devices it knows about that aren’t connected so you may have to look carefully or filter the view.
Another option is to just change the wi-fi name in the router so all other devices will be disconnected. Be careful there isn’t anything important connected like the alarm system and remember to change it back before you go. One advantage of this is that if the owner calls you to ‘çheck on the internet’ then they’re possibly trying to check cameras while away.
Ring camera doorbells will use the wifi as well so this will probably stop them spying on your comings and goings as well but be aware they and other cameras can also have local storage
I agree. I would be very annoyed if a sitter deliberately disconnected my doorbell camera or disabled anything else connected to wifi.
How would I know, however, if a sitter changed the WiFi name? I would get an app notification that my doorbell camera was offline, but is there another way to check?
My doorbell camera is disclosed in the listing and is for my security, not to spy on sitters as @cawosey suggests. Even when I am not there, I would want the camera active in case anything happened (porch pirates are rampant in my city, for example). I don’t look at the clips when I have a sitter.
I would know that something had been done because my phone and my computer would not log in on the wifi when I came back home. And the Apple TV would not work. And my internet radio. Etc, etc.
There are apps that are supposed to detect cameras. I downloaded one called Spy Detector but haven’t tried it. I’m sure you can find apps and reviews online.
But @cawosey suggests changing the name back before the sit ends, so the connections would work again for you.
Maybe the way to check if a sitter has changed the wifi name is to periodically log on to the router page while away, to check the details. I would never have thought that necessary until reading what devious sitters might do
Hello, I don’t want to stop the flow of this discussion and everyone supporting the OP, but just a quick reminder that before changing anything in the owner’s home check with the owner, communication is always the key if you have any concerns and Membership Services are always on hand to help advise
@cawosey Changing back might not be possible if there was a block against using a password a second time. Or if they did not know the password (I usually just transfer it wireless to a guest’s phone or I type it myself).
And anyway, it might interrupt all kinds of important things if the HO has a smart home.
Check with the homeowner before changing the router.
In our home the heating, door locks, and electricity are smart equipped. The door locks still would work with keys but lock outs would need to be handled differently if the router was messed with.
While we could get the devices set back up remotely, it would be annoying for both the sitter and the homeowner to do so!
It’s not so much me suggesting that owners use their video doorbells to spy on sitters - it’s the reports on here from sitters where they have said that is what owners have actually done. I’m not accusing anyone of anything.
If you provided them access to he wi-fi using a password they would have access to that password even if you typed it in for them but I think you’re getting confused between the credentials need to access the wi-fi and the credentials needed to access the router itself which are different.
And anyway, it might interrupt all kinds of important things if the HO has a smart home.
This is true and I mentioned an alarm system for this reason as an example but there are any number of thing that may require access to the wi-fi to continue.
The OP asked for a method to protect against hidden devices and I provided one such method which includes detection and also if required disabling them. What they choose to do with that is up to them.
As HO I would be highly irritated if someone messed with my router as smart homes rely in wifi for smooth daily operation (for sitters comfort as well). Resetting systems is also not always as simple as it should be and would be a headache for me. While staying at an airbnb with a RING doorbell camera I told the owner I was uncomfortable with it and taped over the camera.
Topic seems to have gone off down the road of how to/whether to reset the HO’s router etc., rather than the question of HO’s recording sitters in the first place.
I mean, why would you even apply for a sit where that seems to have happened? Ugh.
Obviously because there are many psychos out here who might secretly recording you and even do not care about their membership suspended on THS. Having said that, preventing is the best cure.
