TNM recently published an investigative story on how CCTV footage that captured intimate moments of couples from cinema theatres was leaked and sold illegally through Telegram. Our reportage has now prompted action from theatre authorities in Kerala.
Though the footage we saw came from several theatres, we could trace a set to Kairali, Sree, and Nila, three government-run theatres in Kerala’s capital city, Thiruvananthapuram. These theatres are owned by Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC), a government body.
During the course of our investigation, we were in contact with the Kerala Cyber Crime wing, who initiated action. The police alerted the theatre authorities, urging them to make immediate changes to their operations regarding the surveillance system, following which changes have now been implemented.
TNM spoke to theatre manager Rajesh Kumar, who said that they have disconnected the online connectivity of their CCTV system and limited access to a single device. The footage can now be accessed only on the manager’s device, and no other device can view or retrieve the footage.
He also added that they have changed their passwords to stronger ones to prevent any unauthorised access.
The authorities have put display boards across the theatre premises and inside the cinema halls, informing the public that the area is under CCTV surveillance. At least seven such boards have been placed. The same message will now be displayed on the film screen during the interval.
Rajesh further added that they are carrying out an internal inquiry to find out the origin of the leak.
Administrative Officer Satheesh told TNM that these measures will be expanded soon to other theatres run by KSFDC. It operates 17 theatres across the state.
Over the last four months, TNM investigated the shady business of stolen CCTV footage that was being sold on Telegram. We uncovered that CCTV visuals from theatres, homes, hostels and even hospitals were being traded through the application, and the scale of this underground market appears to be vast.
Cyber experts told us that such leaks point to two possibilities: an insider could have leaked the footage, or the system may have been easily hacked because of weak passwords and online streaming.
TNM will continue to track the issue and explore different aspects of this disturbing ecosystem. This is the first story in our series. Our second story will focus on how CCTV visuals from hospitals are being leaked and sold.
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