Video Surveillance on the Fly: Here’s Looking at You!

Note: Story updated below.

Smile! Urine candid camera!

Acute airport-urinal observer and SnapStream CEO Rakesh Agrawal catches this unlikely warning posted in a men’s restroom at the newish Southwest Airlines terminal at Hobby. The text below the Dept. of Homeland Security logo at the top of the urinal reads:

Automatic infrared flush sensors also provide video monitoring for security purposes.

Hey, you’ll probably want to make sure you . . . uh, “look your best” before you step away then, no? Reports  the high-tech exec:

***

The camera appeared to be in the same panel that carried the flush sensor… a brushed metal panel with an oval shaped dark transparent glass with a red on it. . . .

And this panel was located just above the urinal itself.  Given how close the user of the urinal would be to the flush sensor and camera, it’s probably designed to monitor people walking in/out/around the bathroom, not the user of the urinal.  But still freaky!

Update, 5/26: A spokesperson for the Houston Airport System comments!

Photo: Rakesh Agrawal

29 Comment

  • This is a joke, right? Private parts are private, aren’t they?

  • Was Larry Craig in the bathroom?

  • “I have a wide stance…”

  • somebody is either a good aim or a bad aim, depending on intent.

  • Not buying it. Confirmation from DHS or gtfo.

  • DHS – the new Gestapo.

  • Y’know about 3 years ago I was mugged in the Hobby Airport parking garage. I told them at the time that they needed cameras in the garage. This is typical of bureaucratic idiocy. Meanwhile, watch your back.

  • watch my back? don’t you mean my front?

  • wait, they are already doing that…

  • They call it ‘Hobby’ airport because running it is just a hobby.. Had a couple annoying experiences there.

  • I see nothing wrong with this, Homeland is just looking out for our safety, as long as the videos don’t show up on the Internet it doesn’t matter, right?

  • “I see nothing wrong with this, Homeland is just looking out for our safety, as long as the videos don’t show up on the Internet it doesn’t matter, right?”

    Are you serious! Are you a Shill? Seriously, if BILL CLINTON didn’t have to submit to entering pictures of himself to court when Donna Flowers stated she could prove she oraled him because of a “Unique”ness of his member, then why should anyone else be EXPOSED (pun intended) to this?

    This is just too much / too far… I’d like to hear REAL confirmation on this before anyone goes too far, but if it is real, then I’d say take them out or bash the sh*t out of them!

  • @larg3:

    I think F!N3 may have been being sarcastic.

  • Only a country full of idiots would throw a president in court because of having consenting sex.
    Why in the first place should Clinton show any photos to you? He was not a criminal in any way thinkable that was a purely political game that took advantage of your stupid conservative minds, that can’t think of a person as president because he can’t keep is cock in his pants(like many other men).
    If there was any camera in airport bathrooms maybe many incidents could have been stopped before happening.

  • This is a fake, somebodys sick joke.
    .
    First the urinal uses a reliable motion detector that doesn’t require a line of sight through the cover.
    .
    Video requires a line of sight through the cover and through the bogus sticker.
    There isn’t any. At least not on the urinal.
    .
    Plus it’s a violation of the Constitution to violate a place if someone has a “reasonable expectation of privacy”
    .
    Large public bathrooms certainly fall into a grey area, but a urinal cam would violate that privacy.

  • To Nuno:

    So many fools keep propagating the myth that the reason Clinton was in trouble was because he was cheating on Hilary or because he was a slut. The reason Clinton was in trouble, was because in a court hearing, the purpose of which was to investigate accusations of sexual harassment (eg the woman [Monica] that was sucking him was getting favors, gifts and promotions, and the other woman that refused him got squat), where he was *under oath* to testify as to the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, he LIED and denied what he was doing.

    All politicians lie on tv, whatever. Clinton lied *IN COURT*

  • The reason Clinton was in trouble, was because in a court hearing, the purpose of which was to investigate accusations of sexual harassment (eg the woman [Monica] that was sucking him was getting favors, gifts and promotions, and the other woman that refused him got squat), where he was *under oath* to testify as to the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, he LIED and denied what he was doing.

    I’ll be damned… I thought I’d never find anyone else who actually understood this fact. I wish everyone else would pull their head out of their ass and realize it, too.

  • @Mark:

    Perhaps you haven’t noticed, but the Department of Homemade Security has been empowered by Congress to do whatever it damned wants to.

  • Just aim a little higher and see if they can withstand repeated pee attacks

  • “Just a few bad apples”

    anthrax intimidation
    extortion blackmail bribery
    whistle blowers are patriots

    aipac’s israel-first dual-nationals
    a federal reserve is unaccountable
    the 911 scam cover-up of the century

    gravel kucinich paul nader
    mckinney ventura too
    perotcharts.com
    RATM

  • It is doubtful that NUNO has the ability to rationally sift through opposingn points of view. Clinton (aka Mr. Peyronie) lied to a “Grand Jury” which is a felony. The only people who get this are the ones who live lawful lives. The rest are primed for “changing” the laws to fit their lives.

    Peeing on a surveillance camera WILL be a felony…you just watch…er…they’ll be watching.

    PS While Clinton was being sodomozed by Lewinski, Arafat, THE terrorist, was in the Rose Garden. Somehow the Democrats always get caught with their pants down when it comes to dealing with Terrorists…Obama will, too, but the worst part is that he wants us to also have our pants down…and wallet open.

  • Thinking people know the real terrorists aren’t hiding out in any caves in Afghanistan or Pakistan, they are based in Washington DC.

    The cave guys are the patsies.

  • No president should have to answer to civil or criminal charges for an offense that took place before they were elected president, until such time as they leave office. For the duration of their tenure as president, they work for us, and they cannot dispatch their duty as president if they are busy dealing with personal legal issues. It is all too easy for opponents to use the courts for political purposes, as with Clinton, effectively hobbling the presidency and their ability to serve effectively. I don’t care if they are the worst president we’ve ever had (like the last one), or the best; it should be prohibited to charge the president with anything that took place before they were elected.

    Now, if they do anything illegal during their presidency, that’s a different story. We need to be able to use the courts to halt illegal activity by the administration.

  • @joe and k5deb, comments 16 and 17:

    The answer to why 95% of the “modernised” world is unable to see these simple facts is due to the prescribed medication they willingly receive every day at the coffee counter, the television, the junk-food supplier, the tobacco supplier and the newspaper stand. This is an excellent cocktail of sleep deprivation, restlessness and malnutrition which facilitates the planting of confusion into the daily personality.

    This is not a joke – this is a totally effective version of the treatment on offer in a torture camp. However, the word on the lips of the population is……………..”I couldn’t get out of bed without it!”

    Good luck to you both. :)

  • In texas, some schools have hidden cameras in the school bathroom. Parents are somehow okay with this.

    Don’t forget about Savannah Redding, a 13 year old girl who was forced to strip search in front of guys because she “might have aspirin”.

    Also, two other 13-14 year olds were forced off a school bus & strip searched for aspirin.

    I’ll look into this more myself and cover on my Tuesday’s radio show.

    http://www.blogtalkradio.com/proofnegative

  • The only people that are worried about this and think it is wrong are the ones with small penis’s…….. Think about it.

  • Jman: Are you serious with that comment? I think the only people that AREN’T worried about a lack of privacy are those with small brains.

  • They really are going to far. I understand the desire to keeping us all safe and secure, however, this is ovestepping the boundaries quite a bit!