Using default settings on security cams? You’re probably being watched

Maybe you've never heard of Insecam but this website is worrying for anyone who owns an internet-connected camera and has never bothered to change the default password settings. Insecam is a Russian-based site hosting live feeds from tens of thousands of unsecured web cams around the world.

Perhaps you have a camera on your pet while you’re at work or one for the baby while you’re in another room. Or this seems to be the primary category for this site: security cams for businesses or other public/semi-public premises. It might not technically be hacking because the IP addresses for these feeds are either not password protected or are using a default password, but streaming this footage is certainly deeply unethical.

The website says: "Only filtered cameras are available now. This way none of the cameras on Insecam invade anybody's private life." I have no idea what "filtered" means but a quick scan through the first 48 of many feeds from around Ireland found a camera whose view extends into someone's back garden, another inside a pub, and 19 (!) feeds from places of worship where church goers most certainly would not consent to be filmed and watched online. For anyone in charge of a church security camera: please check your equipment is password protected! insecam.org