SafeStay Scanner
Detect hidden cameras and suspicious devices at Airbnbs, hotels, and rentals.
Install
SafeStay scans your local WiFi network, identifies devices by manufacturer, probes camera-specific ports (RTSP, ONVIF, Tuya P2P, MQTT-TLS, debug backdoors), and flags suspicious devices with risk levels. It also ships an in-app physical-check guide for the cameras a network scan cannot see (4G/SIM, SD-card-only, separate VLAN). Runs entirely on your machine.
Hobby project. MIT-licensed, AS IS, no warranty, no liability. Not legal advice. Network scanning may be illegal where you are — that's on you to check before running it.
One-liner (macOS & Linux)
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Cuzeth/airbnb-safety-tools/main/install.sh | bashInstalls to ~/.local/binand verifies the binary against the release's SHA-256 checksums before installing. Never asks for sudo. Inspect the script before running it.
Or download a prebuilt binary
After install
sudo safestay # best results (raw ICMP fills the ARP cache)
safestay # unprivileged fallback (TCP/UDP probes only)Press ? inside the app at any time for the physical-check guide and the limits of what a network scan can see.
MAC Address Lookup
Quick check against 150+ camera manufacturer OUI prefixes from the SafeStay OUI database (derived from the IEEE MA-L public registry). Vendor labels are technical references, not confirmed identifications — MAC addresses can be spoofed and OUI assignments can be reused. For full detection with port scanning, risk assessment, and the physical-check guide, install the scanner above.
Physical Check
Network scanning misses an entire class of threats: cameras on a separate VLAN, cameras with a 4G/LTE SIM, SD-card-only recorders, and anything an AP-isolated network hides from a scanner. Do this 60-second sweep in addition to the scan — you can do it from your phone if you can't install the tool right now.
Look at the obvious spots first
- Smoke detectors, especially ones placed unusually low or aimed at a bed
- Air purifiers, alarm clocks, picture frames, mirrors, decorative plants
- USB chargers and power adapters plugged in near the bed or shower
- Vents, speakers, and any object with a small dark dot the size of a pencil tip
Sweep the room with a flashlight in the dark
- Turn off all lights and close the curtains
- Use a flashlight (phone torch works) and slowly sweep across surfaces from eye level
- A camera lens reflects a sharp, repeatable glint — different from glass or metal
- Inspect any glint up close: lift, twist, or unscrew the object if you can
Use your phone's front camera to find IR LEDs
- Open your phone's front-facing camera (not the rear — most rear cameras filter IR)
- Turn off the room lights. Point it at smoke detectors, vents, clocks, frames
- Night-vision cameras emit faint purple/white dots that are invisible to the eye but visible to your phone sensor
- If you see steady IR dots from an object that should not have a camera, treat it as a finding
Check for cameras that don't use the WiFi
- 4G/LTE cameras have a SIM card and bypass the host network entirely — SafeStay cannot see them
- Look for objects with an unusual second power cable, or a small antenna nub
- SD-card recorders need no network at all — they just store video locally
- If you find a device you cannot explain, document it before touching it further
What This Tool Cannot See
A clean network scan is not a guarantee. SafeStay covers one slice of the threat surface — these are the parts it doesn't.
- Cameras on a 4G/LTE SIM card are invisible to any WiFi scan
- AP / client isolation hides every other device on the network from this tool
- Cameras that only write to an SD card and never go online cannot be detected
- Modern hidden cameras often run unbranded firmware on commodity chips (Tuya, ESP32, Anyka, Ingenic) — they may not match any known vendor
- This tool is a starting point, not a guarantee. Always pair it with a physical sweep
Hobby project. MIT-licensed, AS IS, no warranty, no liability. Not legal advice. Detection is heuristic — false positives and false negatives are expected. Network scanning may be illegal where you are; confirming you have authorization is on you.