Alex Wong, a Glasgow-based international student, wants better protections for lodgers after experience with live-in homeowner became nightmare.
12:00, 19 Apr 2026
Alex Wong who claims his live-in landlady used a spycam to keep tabs on him(Image: Tony Nicoletti/Daily Record)
A student whose landlady insisted on having a spycam in his flat is demanding better protection for lodgers.
Alex Wong, 22, who studies mechanical engineering at Glasgow University, said he moved in with the live-in homeowner at a property in the city’s leafy Broomhill last September.
But the Chinese student told how his situation quickly turned into a nightmare after he discovered a camera hidden behind a plantpot in the hall.
After challenging his landlady on the CCTV their relationship deteriorated leading to an angry confrontation.
Images supplied by Alex Wong of camera in property he rented in Glasgow (Image: HANDOUT)
Alex said: “I feel like she spied on me. From her WhatsApp messages to me, she would comment on things I was doing in the flat and kept monitoring me.
“I asked her 15 times to stop filming me and I unplugged the camera at least three or four times.
“If she is concerned about whether lodgers are going to respect the way she lives, she should have a conversation with him or her nicely.
“But installing a secret camera is violating my privacy.
“I have no idea why she did it. I don’t think my behaviour caused any problems, because basically every day, after I woke up I would go to the university, then eat in a restaurant outside of the house.
“I did not cause any problem. I did not cause any mess.
“It was a very weird and stressful situation. I couldn’t sleep because I felt I had to be on alert.”
Alex wasn’t told about the camera before he moved in and didn’t give his consent(Image: HANDOUT)
Alex said she initially claimed the camera was for security purposes.
But when she messaged him when she was not at home, warning him not to overfill the tumbler dryer, he concluded she had spied on him doing his laundry.
The dryer was in a side room visible from the camera’s viewpoint.
In their confrontation about the camera, which Alex recorded, he claimed she said the camera had been installed for the last ten years.
After being evicted from the flat over the row about him unplugging the camera after less than three weeks, Alex then went to Police Scotland about her conduct.
He claimed officers told him her behaviour was “strange but not criminal” and didn’t take it any further. Alex has since issued a complaint against the police over their handling of his case.
It’s illegal for landlords to install cameras in private areas like bedrooms or bathrooms.
Cameras can be permitted in communal areas like hallways and kitchens – but only with written consent from residents first and clear signage.
Alex said the law in Scotland is a grey area for those who are lodgers rather than tenants.
He added: “Lodgers do have protections under the law because lodgers are still legal occupiers.
“When we look at other cases involving secret cameras, they didn’t mention whether the people affected were tenants or lodgers.”They only mention that the landlord cannot film legal occupiers without their knowledge or consent.“The police didn’t do their job. The biggest problem for Scotland and throughout the UK is the police is not enforcing the law.
“The police tried to mislead me by saying that a WhatsApp conversation cannot be a contract, that damaging the door handle is not criminal damage, that shouting in my room is not harassment, installing a secret camera is not a kind of harassment.”That’s twisting the facts. I hope my case raises awareness for people about what can happen and what they can do to protect themselves.”
Police Scotland said Alex’s complaint about officers is being investigated and “it would be inappropriate to comment further”. The landlady did not respond to repeated attempts to contact her for comment.
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