In the past few years, He Zhihui has not been frequenting Huaqiangbei.
Fifteen years ago, Huaqiangbei used to be the area he frequented most. He bought lighters, eyeglasses, and car keys over the counter – not unusual items with pinhole cameras hidden inside.
He Zhihui was a private detective when he needed these “eyes” in the shadows to find the truth.
A few years later, a prison sentence put him on the opposite side of his past, and he became an anti-piracy photographer.
Gazing into the abyss of one’s own undetectable depths became a daily routine for He Zhihui.
With the many social news reports about clandestine photography, people’s anxieties and insecurities about privacy have been stirred up, and He Zhikai has ushered in the second “golden age” of his career.
The company’s main goal is to provide the best quality products and services to the customers.
Because as long as human nature is in, clandestine photography will always exist.
Invisible to the naked eye
Entering the fifth floor of the Foxconn Technology Building in Longhua, the crackling sound of keyboards echoed across the expansive field in dozens of cubicles.
On the other side of the computer, customers’ doubts, reliefs and fears connect.
“Can you install a pinhole lens here too? “
“Holy crap, who’s that disgusting, spying on people? “
On He Zhihui’s desk, charging heads, Coke bottles, circuit boards, car keys …… – all seemingly insignificant everyday items – are clearly visible as flickering red reflective dots through the red light scans of detection equipment.
This means that a pinhole lens is hiding in there, and a pair of eyes are watching you in the dark.
The origin of these devices is that they were found in a customer’s home when He Zhizhi came to inspect them. Now, they are piled up all over He Zhihui’s office.
Every visit is an uphill battle for He Zhihui. White gloves and a black trolley box with node detectors, portable scanners, and other specialized inspection equipment – a must-have on the road.
And entering the room, like a hunter walking into the jungle, to play 100% spirit.
Over the past ten years in the industry, he has met less than professional “prey”, “just buy some lamps, flower pots and other equipment to disguise things”.
This does not require a detector, but He will be able to catch it with his years of experience.
Of course, a cunning opponent also exists.
The plaque that hangs directly above the office is the one that He Zhigai must use when orienting new employees. Like most items in the office, the plaque was “scavenged” from a client’s home.
It was a woman from Foshan who approached He Zhihui to do a home inspection. After putting on white gloves and taking a sweep of the testing equipment, He Zhihui found something fishy.
The pinhole camera is hidden in a black background on a plaque that reads, “Smooth Sailing,” a circuit installed to show the time and provide long-term power for the camera’s operation.
The plaque was installed by the woman’s husband. She was in the midst of a divorce and already had evidence of her husband’s infidelity, and intended to make him leave her home.
In an attempt to turn the tables, the husband installed pinhole cameras and set up a trap for his wife to take the bait.
There are some pinhole cameras that are even hidden in fish tanks. In general, the camera can not touch the water, but did not expect the device to scan the fish tank, emitting an ear-piercing alarm sound.
He Zhihui squatted down close to the fish tank, only to find the camera hidden in the fish tank’s pump, transparent rubber tube wrapped around it.
In addition to the fish tank, He Zhihui also found three pinhole cameras in the customer’s room, which is probably the room where he encountered the largest number of pinhole cameras. “Usually it’s enough to install one, but I didn’t expect to install so many. “
Like the plaque, the fish tank was also used to spy on his wife. He Zhihui didn’t ask too many questions, but he already knew the outline of the incident from the sentence, “The trial is about to start, and they are in a hurry.
What is invisible to the naked eye, apart from the cameras hidden in the shadows, is the unchanging human nature of those cameras.
This is something that He Zhihui knew by heart 15 years ago.
“Confrontation”
Before becoming an anti-theft expert, Ho Chi-Wai was a private detective.
In 2005, it was the golden age of the private detective. He Zhishui south of Shenzhen, in the cracks of a newspaper, saw an advertisement for a private detective agency investigator, did not think much about it, he went into the line.
That would be, he is now with their own “confrontation. He wanted to put pinhole cameras hidden in buttons, lighters, car keys and other places, hidden in the crowd, on the street at any time, waiting for the opportunity to capture key evidence.
Out of professional habit, He would go to Huaqiangbei out of nothing. The company has a long history of developing its own products and services.
With his previous experience as a soldier, He Zhihui will soon find his way out in this line, “the head should be flexible, calm in encounter.
When following a target object, do not follow behind, but across the street, so that it is not easy to be discovered. When you go to a foreign country, try to speak as little as possible so that your accent doesn’t expose your identity.
Once, He Zhi will go to Maoming investigation evidence, see the village people are smoking water pipe, quickly put their hands on the cigarette, with the same locals holding a water pipe exhale.
Unlike the imaginary private detective, He Zhi will accept most of the cases are full of drama and extramarital affairs.
In these cases, most of the women have long sensed the cracks in their marriages, and for He Zhihui, all he does is end the suspicion and let them see the truth.
He was approached by a Shanghai employer who was also stalking her husband. In a fancy restaurant, the husband and his lover were acting affectionately, feeding each other.
He would pretend to be on the phone, filming the “beautiful” scene on the built-in camera.
Late at night, the man and his lover drove into the park, and through the SLR, He would see the man flattening the back seat of the car and closing the window.
He put the SLR down. Not shooting intimate scenes indoors is one of his principles, and another is not taking on male clients because “they are more impulsive.
Even though he didn’t shoot intimate scenes inside the car, he told his employer exactly what he did and didn’t shoot. As expected, a flash flood of cries followed, and the child in his arms was terrified and cried with a loud cry.
As the cries intertwined, He Zhihui was at a loss for words. He suddenly realized, “Is this what she wants? “
By piercing that membrane, the truth is clearly visible, but damage is inevitable.
After that, He would go from being a bystander to an intervener, advising his female clients to minimize their losses.
Later, during an investigation, an employer told him that her lover would give her a million dollars if she signed the divorce papers.
He Zhihui’s advice was, “Sign the papers and take the money, don’t get involved with the money. “
There is also a lover who blackmails a man to pay a sum of money because she is pregnant. The client hurriedly called He Zhihui and asked him what to do, and He Zhihui congratulated her on the phone, “Talking about money is tearing your face off, and your husband will be back soon. “
Private detective shooting unconventional, high-risk, high price, then, He Zhihui hands in the case of quotes in more than 15,000. 2009, Shenzhen, there are more than a dozen investigation companies, fierce competition.
The industry is hot, but the private detective is still a career in the gray area. A legal update, which changed the fate of He Zhihui.
February 28, 2009, the “illegal acquisition of personal information of citizens,” was officially written “Amendment to the Criminal Law (VII)”.
Six months later, police raided the door, took away five phone records on He Zhihui’s desk, and arrested him on charges of “illegal access to citizen information.
The lively scene of private detective, never to return.
Humanity in, clandestine filming in
During the seven months he spent in the detention center, He Zhihui thought about what he could do when he got out.
When his eyes were closed, he still had the same burglary equipment in his head, but when he looked at the law book in his hand, he suddenly had an inspiration. But looking at the law book in his hands, he suddenly had an inspiration.
“Since clandestine photography is illegal, I’m against clandestine photography? “
After his release from prison, He Zhihui went to Huaqiangbei, rented a small counter with his hometown, and started selling anti-stealing equipment.
In 2010, anti-stealing was still a cold industry, and few customers patronized his store.
The anti-stealing equipment available on the market was very simple, only detecting radio waves, and the accuracy of detection was also very low.
The other side of the coin, of course, is that stealing devices are also in their infancy.
The first generation of pinhole cameras are of two types: one is a memory type, which is small and portable, but the disadvantage is that you have to go back to the location to remove the memory card and connect it to a computer to view the camera.
The second type of analog signal, can be viewed within a range of two hundred meters, such as upstairs and downstairs or across the door, but the size is too large, the size of two matchboxes, very conspicuous.
The technology was rudimentary, the peeping range was small, and videotaping failed to make waves in the lives of the general public.
At the time, the Ho Chih Society’s main business was also commercial inspection, mostly of coal owners who were insecure about their sudden wealth, or of large companies that prevented commercial spies from stealing secrets.
But when WiFi and 4G began to cover the area, the technology ushered in a reinvention of itself.
In terms of size, pinhole lenses and storage volumes became smaller and could be hidden in more discreet spaces.
Table lamps, routers, switches, and other items close to electrical appliances have become the perfect “habitat” for pinhole cameras. What’s more, there is a pair of “eyes” hidden in the screws.
In 2018, Jing Jing broke up with her boyfriend, but the breakup was not a pleasant one. After some time, she noticed that something was wrong, her ex-boyfriend would send her WeChat from time to time, but the content made her feel terrified, “How come he knows what I do? “
After buying the testing equipment in the store, Jingjing found a pinhole camera on the electric plug-in board in the rental house, and there is a 4G traffic card in the electric plug-in board, so in places without wifi, it can also be directly filmed and watched.
In terms of clarity, it has reached 1080p, far beyond the first generation of 480p.
The change in technology has turned sneak peek into a wild horse, running all the way to the more hidden corners of people’s lives – bathrooms, dressing rooms, hotels.
Some people accidentally click on a pornographic website and see intimate videos of themselves and their partners.
The first into the anti-stealing this line, He Zhizhi will be far from expected future clandestine shooting will be so widespread, “where to think with the APP can be controlled.
The prey is upgrading, and the hunters are constantly updating their equipment. Every year, He Zhihui will invest about 1 million in research and development equipment, “a foot high, the devil is high”, the jungle contest never stopped.
After 5G coverage, it’s hard to imagine what upgrades will be made to the sneak peek equipment. But what seems certain is that the story beyond the camera is always the same.
It’s about the dark side of human nature: betrayal, suspicion, voyeurism, and manipulation.
A friend of mine would quip to He Zhi, “Now that the crackdown is so strict, what are you going to do when there’s no more clandestine filming? “
He would smile wryly at me as he paraphrased and answered the question.
“Human nature dictates that the sneak peek will not go away”.
Sidebar.
Mr. He provided me with the following suggestions on how to protect his privacy in public places or when traveling on business.
When checking into a hotel, if you have detection equipment, first close the curtains and turn off the lights, scan the suspected area (especially lamps, air conditioning vents, smoke alarms, electrical outlets, and routers) with the bed as the center, and if you find any suspicious reflective spots, then do a further check. 2.
If you don’t have detection equipment, try not to let the lights get too bright and dim, as most pinhole cameras don’t have night vision. 3.
(3) If you are in a dressing room, especially beware of suspicious small black spots.
(4) When riding the escalator, if you are wearing a skirt, try to turn sideways to prevent peek-a-boo photography. 5.
Some newly moved tenants, especially girls, may want to do a test before moving in. 6.
(6) Another tip for finding pinhole cameras is to look for dark places or places with gaps in the camera.
It is best to change the password for security cameras in the home, otherwise there is a high probability that they will be hacked. However, changing the password does not guarantee that it will not be hacked, it only makes it more difficult. Or turn off the power at night when you sleep, so that even if you are intruded, you will not be able to see the picture.
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