<http://schema.org/articleBody>
" \nThe following story was originally printed in the April 2012 issue of Cosmopolitan. Consider all the times you assume you have total privacy \u2013 having sex, showering, going to the bathroom. Now imagine how you would feel if you found out that these moments were filmed and uploaded to the Internet, and the police couldn&amp;#039;t help you. For Ralitsa Dzhambazova and Vanya Smokovareva, both 23, this is something they think about every day. The two Bulgarian women came to the U.S. to work two years ago, and toward the end of their stay, they discovered hidden cameras in the smoke detectors in the living room, bedroom, and bathroom of the apartment they rented in Westchase, Florida. All signs, they decided, pointed to their landlord as the culprit.  They called the police, but by the time the detectives arrived on the scene, they could find no evidence that the cameras were connected to any recording devices. The women suspected their landlord previously disconnected the cameras, although he denies any wrongdoing. The police were also unable to secure a search warrant to inspect the landlord&amp;#039;s computer, partly because in Florida, video voyeurism is only considered a first-degree misdemeanor. With no hard evidence, the state attorney&amp;#039;s office could not prosecute. The girls&amp;#039; only recourse was to file a civil lawsuit, which is still pending. Sadly, they are far from alone \u2013 similar stories have popped up in the news lately. Here&amp;#039;s what you need to know to ensure the nightmare doesn&amp;#039;t happen to you. The Law Lowdown Ilse Knecht, deputy director of Public Policy at the National Center for Victims of Crime, helped write the federal law against the video voyeurism back in 2004. As it stands now, the law fines or imprisons anyone who &amp;quot;has the intent to capture an image of a private area of an individual without their consent and knowingly does so under circumstances in which the individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy.&amp;quot; &amp;quot;We wanted to create a federal law that would be a model for the states that would also cover as many of these kinds as possible,&amp;quot; Knecht says. But some states will have laws stating that video cameras can be used to protect the landlord&amp;#039;s property if the tenant is given fair warning. What&amp;#039;s more, only a selection of states have added specific laws that prohibit he unauthorized use of recording cameras in private places. And of these, only a handful have classified video voyeurism as a felony. Everywhere else, it&amp;#039;s a misdemeanor, meaning it&amp;#039;s on par with public intoxication. Worst-case scenario? The perpetrator pays a small fine. Considering how traumatic it is to have your most intimate moments recorded, this hardly seems fair.  A Glimmer of Hope Knect can attest to how violated victims feel. &amp;quot;You lose your sense of security,&amp;quot; she says. &amp;quot;One woman got to the point where she would only take a shower in her clothes.&amp;quot; Fortunately, though, it seems like officials are finally starting to recognize just how important this issue is. &amp;quot;Law enforcement wants victims to see justice,&amp;quot; says Steven Hundersmark, PhD, director of criminal science at Indiana Tech. &amp;quot;But their hands are tied because the law hasn&amp;#039;t kept up with technology. Even though the internet has been around for a while, it&amp;#039;s a slow, complicated process to write and pass new legislation.&amp;quot; Prosecutors end up having to get creative and apply other existing laws to cases like this in hopes the perpetrator doesn&amp;#039;t get off with just a slap on the wrist. Protect Yourself If you are renting an apartment or vacation home, Hundersmark suggests rereading your lease to ensure there&amp;#039;s nothing in there about the landlord&amp;#039;s right to install video cameras. And doing a quick sweep of areas where hidden cameras are commonly placed is crucial too: Check the smoke detectors, vents, and bookcases. Also, because many companies sell items with video cameras already installed in them \u2013 clocks, radios, lamps, adapters \u2013 it doesn&amp;#039;t hurt to invest in a hidden-camera detector if you&amp;#039;re renting a place. It will run you about $40, and all you have to do is sweep it over any suspicious spots. Although they are not 100 percent foolproof, should it detect the presence of a camera, it will beep. Call the police immediately if you discover one (and place tape over the lens) \u2013 you want them to document the evidence ASAP.  Photo credit: thinkstockphoto "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.cosmopolitan.com/lifestyle/advice/a4325/smoke-detector-cameras/?click=rel>