Posts Tagged ‘arrest’

There has been an arrest in the Erin Andrews case where the ESPN reporter was filmed through a hotel peephole nude. The video was shopped around, and then ultimately posted online when sites such as TMZ did not purchase. The man arrested is Michael David Barrett. He faces charges of interstate stalking, trying to sell the videos, and for the posting.

This is something that should worry most people. With the availability of high tech surveillance and personal recording devices and the fact that these devices are getting smaller and easier to conceal, privacy is under attack now more than ever.

When in public, there is not much that can be done. In your own home, you can take precautions. But what about when in hotels and such? Did you know that you can purchase a peephole reverse lens? It is available.

I am no expert, but in this case, a simple James Bond type fix could have saved Erin Andrews a lot of embarrassment. It is an easy fix as well. All you need is a piece of cloth, construction paper, or even a page torn from a hotel magazine, and a piece of tape.

While it is cool to get a hotel room and play James Bond by checking the bathroom, looking for bugs, and making sure miscreants are not hiding under the bed or in closets, then ordering green figs and yogurt–not that I do this, of course,this fix may actually protect you. Simply tape  a cover over the peephole. You can easily lift the cover if you need to use the peephole yourself, but you are protected from pervs that would violate your privacy.

Now, if the pervs want to make holes in the wall like Norman Bates, there is not much that can be done. But the key is to do what you can.

For the record, some online experts have promoted the view that this video was actually done with a hole in the door or wall. (By experts, I mean people that can’t be bothered to look up the truth or research methods used and just sprout whatever the hell they think.) This was done through a modified peephole and likely recorded with a cell phone camera.