How to check a rental for hidden cameras

Updated October 22, 2026 · 6 min read

Hidden cameras in rentals are not common: Airbnb told CNN in July 2024 that complaints about them are rare. But they are real. CNN’s investigation, published on July 9, 2024, described a camera concealed in a clock radio and pointed at the guests’ bed, one hidden in a charger in a bedroom, and one plugged into the wall and aimed directly at the bed.

According to deposition testimony that CNN reported, Airbnb logged about 35,000 customer support tickets about surveillance devices over roughly ten years starting in December 2013. Airbnb says one report can create several tickets.

A short, calm routine at check-in covers the hiding places that come up again and again in reported cases. The one below takes about 15 minutes for a typical apartment, and you can do it before you unpack.

Before you arrive: read the listing

The platform rules tell you what you should and shouldn’t find.

  • Airbnb has banned security cameras and recording devices that monitor any indoor space since April 30, 2024, even if they are turned off or disconnected. Exterior cameras are allowed, but the host must say where they are in the listing description. Noise monitors that measure sound levels without recording audio may be used indoors if disclosed, but not in bedrooms, bathrooms or sleeping areas.
  • Vrbo does not allow cameras or audio recorders inside a rental, or outside and pointed in, for example through a window. Outdoor cameras may only watch the property’s access points, and the listing must disclose their location and coverage area.

Write down every device the listing mentions and where it says it is. A camera indoors breaks the rules on both platforms. The details are in our guide to Airbnb and Vrbo camera rules.

The check-in routine

Leave your bags by the door. Start with the bedroom and bathroom, then do the living areas.

1. Look at what can see the bed and the shower

A hidden camera is only useful if it has a view of something private. Stand where you will sleep, shower and change, and look at everything that faces those spots: smoke detectors, clocks, chargers and plug-in adapters, the TV and any box beside it, picture frames, shelves, plants and vents.

On each object, look for a pinhole or a small dark glass dot that doesn’t belong to its normal design. For a spot-by-spot list, see where hidden cameras are hidden.

2. Check everything that is plugged in

Chargers, other plug-in devices and clocks have a constant power supply, and all three appear in reported cases. For each one, ask: does it make sense where it is, and does it have an opening facing the bed or shower? If something looks wrong, don’t open it or unplug it. Skip to if you find something.

3. Do a flashlight sweep in the dark

Close the curtains and turn off the lights. Turn on your phone’s flashlight, hold it close to your eyes, and scan the room slowly, a section at a time.

A camera lens can throw the beam back as a small, sharp point of light, even when the camera is switched off. There is a catch: the researchers behind the LAPD study (SenSys 2021) found that these reflections are only visible within about 10 degrees of the direction the camera is pointing. So sweep from where a camera would be aimed: lying on the bed, standing in the shower, sitting on the sofa. A sweep from the doorway can miss a lens that is aimed at the pillow.

Walk up to every glint and look at what made it. Screws, LEDs, glitter and glossy plastic are common false alarms.

4. Lights off: look for night-vision glow

Night-vision cameras light the room with infrared LEDs. According to security-camera company OpenEye, LEDs at 850 nm give off a faint red glow when you look straight at them, while 940 nm LEDs are completely invisible to the eye. A phone camera may still see them, so test yours first:

  1. Open the Camera app and switch to the front camera.
  2. Point a TV remote at it and press a button.
  3. If you see a flicker on the screen, that camera can see infrared. Try the rear camera too: many phones block infrared on the rear camera but have little or no infrared filter on the front one.

Then, in the dark, slowly pan the camera that passed the test around the room. Look for small bright spots that no light in the room explains.

5. Look at the Wi-Fi network

Join the rental’s Wi-Fi and open a network scanner app. Your iPhone will ask for Local Network permission, which apps need before they can look for devices on your network. Look for names or makers that suggest a camera, and compare the list with what you can see: the router, the TV, a smart speaker.

This step has real blind spots. A camera on a second network, on mobile data, or recording only to a memory card will not appear. An unfamiliar name is not proof of anything either. Our guide on whether your phone can detect hidden cameras explains each method’s limits.

6. Check Bluetooth

A Bluetooth scan shows nearby devices that are advertising themselves, such as tracking tags and some smart gadgets. It is more useful for trackers than for cameras. Your iPhone also warns you about an unknown AirTag or compatible tracker that moves with you; see how to find a GPS tracker on your car for how those alerts work.

7. Check outside and the windows

Find each exterior camera the listing mentions and check that none looks into a window. Vrbo’s policy bans cameras placed outside to capture the inside of a property, and Airbnb bars outdoor cameras from monitoring indoor spaces or areas such as an enclosed outdoor shower or sauna.

If you find something

Don’t touch, unplug or open the device. Photograph it where it is, leave the room, and report it to the platform and to the police.

In an emergency, Airbnb tells guests to contact local emergency services; otherwise, it points them to its 24-hour safety line. Vrbo asks guests to contact it immediately, and also local law enforcement if they have any concern for their safety. According to the deposition CNN reported, Airbnb does not notify the police as a matter of practice, so if you want an investigation, call them yourself.

The full steps are in what to do if you find a hidden camera. Staying in a hotel instead? Use the hotel room check.

What this routine can’t promise

No routine, app or gadget finds every device:

  • A lens that doesn’t face you won’t glint.
  • A camera without night vision, or with its infrared turned off, won’t glow.
  • A camera on another network, on mobile data or recording to a memory card won’t appear in the Wi-Fi list.
  • An audio recorder with no wireless connection can’t be detected with a phone at all.

So “nothing found” means these checks found nothing. It is a fair reason to relax, not a guarantee.

SpyOff, our upcoming iPhone app, is built around this same routine: it walks you through each check and tells you what that check cannot see.

AirTag and iPhone are trademarks of Apple Inc.

Questions

How do I check an Airbnb for hidden cameras?

Read the listing for disclosed devices first. Then, before you unpack, look at everything that faces the bed and shower, check plugged-in devices, do a flashlight sweep in the dark, look for night-vision glow with a phone camera that passed the TV-remote test, and review the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth device lists.

Are cameras allowed inside an Airbnb?

No. Since April 30, 2024, Airbnb has banned security cameras and recording devices that monitor any indoor space, even if they are turned off. Exterior cameras are allowed if the listing discloses where they are.

Can a phone find every hidden camera in a rental?

No. A lens has to face you to glint, night-vision glow only shows while the camera's infrared light is on, and a camera on another network or recording to a memory card won't appear in a Wi-Fi scan. A clean result means these checks found nothing, not that nothing is there.

Sources

More guides

How to check a hotel room for hidden cameras A short routine for hotel rooms and how it differs from a rental: cameras in lobbies and hallways are normal, the room is what to check, and a hotel Wi-Fi scan proves little. Can your phone detect hidden cameras? What each method finds and misses An honest, method-by-method look at what an iPhone can and can't detect: lens glint, infrared glow, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth device lists, and the magnetometer. Where hidden cameras are hidden, and how to check each spot A spot-by-spot inspection guide based on real cases: what to look for in smoke detectors, chargers, clocks, sockets, TV boxes, frames, mirrors, vents, lamps and bathrooms.