Onega was a flop. I went back to Insecam.org to find another business I could expose their unsecured cameras too. I found the feed for what looked like a phone repair shop. I took their IP address and entered it in an online 'Find IP location tool'. This didn't provide me with an accurate address, however, what it did provide was a general area in London - Camberwell. From here, I went onto Google Maps and searched: 'phone repair shop Camberwell'. The image below shows a vast number of results. I clicked on each, one-by-one, checking the branding and any images from inside the shop available to match with what I could see in the feed.
I found it! A&B Phones and Laptops London, a computer repair service, was only one and a half miles away from LCC. I immediately designed the letter I was going to send but after having a discussion with Gareth, I decided it would be a good idea to go expose the unsecured cameras in person since it was close by and it was highly likely that this shop didn't make their cameras public on purpose. If I had sent out a letter, I would miss the reaction which could possibly be useful in my research. The same day I found the unsecured feed and address, I went out to let them know.
I approached the shop and immediately identified myself as a student from UAL conducting a research project on unsecured CCTV cameras. I then asked the owner whether they realised that their CCTV camera system was broadcasting a live feed for anyone to view. At first, his response was: 'No they aren't. No one should have access to them'. I then offered to prove my findings by showing his camera feed on my laptop. When he saw that I could see his feed on my laptop, the owner got me on the phone with who I presume to be his wife, where we spent a long time discussing how I came across my findings. I noticed the owner and his wife were then relying on my expertise to help them get answers on the issue, answers I could not provide. For example, 'How long has this been going on for?'. Insecam.org, where I found their live feed, does provide some information which I relayed to them. They can request to remove their feed, which is what I suggested they do.
In conclusion, I didn't realise the effect my presence would have on the shop in regards to advice and help I could provide them. The owner looked at me and said: 'What do I do?". If I were to expose cameras for another place, I would definitely need to do some more research so I can accommodate their needs. The owner allowed me to take pictures of the CCTV cameras. It was interesting to find out that the brand listed on Insecam.org did not match the actual brand. I could approach the company for comment in regards to what measures they take to ensure their customers CCTV systems. The owner informed me that these cameras had been up for a few years and that he bought them because they were cheap compared to some of the bigger brands, such as Swann.
The owner will definitely be removing these cameras.
I update this post on January 8 2020.
I decided to try and expose one more unsecured feed, this time in the Netherlands. The video below documents how I tried to locate the business.
This proved much more challenging as I took the same approach I used when finding A&B Phones & Laptops London. I couldn't compare images from Google maps with what I was seeing on the live feed. What I did was created a poster and send emails to every design studio in the area. Now I wait for a response.
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