Man Sues Over Spying Baby Monitor That Picks Up Baby, Neighbors
Posted Nov 3rd 2009 2:01PM by Amar Toor
People get up in arms about unwarranted wiretapping of civilians or even suspected terrorists. Babies, though, have always been fair game. For whatever reason, parents have never had any moral qualms about using baby monitors to invade the privacy of these chubby-cheeked victims. But when baby monitoring goes too far, parents get mad.
At least that's the case for one man in Illinois, who is suing the manufacturer of a video baby monitor that was too effective -- so effective, in fact, the device allowed him to track not only his baby's every move, but the every move of his next door neighbor's kid, too. Wired reports Wes Denkov has filed a proposed class action suit against Summer Infant, which makes the $100 Day and Night Video Monitor, and against Toys 'R' Us.
Denkov took legal action after his neighbor told him that video and audio of Denkov's baby was showing up on the screen next door, whenever both were on the same channel. It wasn't just the baby's bedroom intimacy that was being invaded, but the entire family's as well, as the microphone was apparently so sensitive that it picked up conversations in rooms outside of the nursery. Denkov maintains that the monitor should've come with a warning about its potential for being invasive. The producers basically explained that he should've known that the product wasn't 100-percent secure, and if he wanted a secure system, he should've just gone and bought a (yet) more expensive monitor.
We get how this could be disturbing, even if Denkov's claim of having to endure the "emotional stress" of being constantly watched by Big Brother is a sort of blatant move to squeeze more money out of the company. Though, if a hyper-sensitive monitoring device was accidentally left on the market, consumers do have a right to know. So, if he wants to sue, go ahead. [From: Wired]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Coop said 3:57PM on 11-03-2009
Useless. I hope they throw this suit out. Give the guy his money back (in return for the product in its original packaging, of course) and forget it. He's damn lucky his neighbor let him know about it. He should count his blessings and go buy something else.
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Yonny said 5:37PM on 11-03-2009
cOOL, i WANT ONE FOR MONITORING OUTSIDE THE HOUSE. oops, having had a Ham Radio license for decades, the ability to monitor others like this is not news to me. Too bad the packaging doesn't contain a highly visible warning...
Gregory Dittmer said 6:14PM on 11-03-2009
"He's damn lucky his neighbor let him know about it."
Sometimes I can hardly believe just how ignorant and stupid the "average" person must be! ANYONE with half a brain should be able to figure out that if the monitor claims it is effective to 100 feet, that 100 feet extends in ALL directions and the monitor cannot determine the fact the neighbor's house is just 50 feet away. This is the very same "problem" that I recall many people having when cordless phones first started out.
Call it what you will, baby monitor, room monitor, CORDLESS telephone, walkie-talkie, cell phone... all of these things are radio transceivers and ANYONE with a radio on the same frequency can listen in, legally or illegally. An old friend and I used to ride bicycle late at night, after 12 midnight when I got off work. Since it was late and we would sometimes be in residential areas, we could not really talk without disturbing the peace... so we had a set of voice activated head sets so we could talk quietly and still be heard a mile away. The radios we used also operated on the same frequency as many room monitors.
Quite frequently, while riding through neighborhoods, we would pick up the cordless phones and monitors from 1/4 mile away. Just imagine having some of the most intimate details of your life booming into a neighbors house while you have sex in the next room or chat about the son getting caught with cocaine or maybe, just a baby crying... if the device uses a radio frequency, ANYONE with the right radio can listen in from quite some distance.
racerfmd said 5:10PM on 11-03-2009
i agree sounds like somebody looking for money sounds like a con
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Tankrman68 said 9:47PM on 11-03-2009
This is a frivolous lawsuit for money
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