28th October 2026 – (Hong Kong) Second-hand fashion chain 2nd STREET has removed a closed-circuit camera fitted above a fitting room at its Yuen Long YOHO Mall shop after customers raised privacy fears, admitting the placement was a poorly considered decision while insisting the lens never recorded the cubicle interior.
Images circulated on social media showed a shopper looking up after entering the changing room and spotting, in the mirror reflection, a camera mounted above the curtain line. One poster said they were startled and crouched immediately on seeing the lens just as they were about to undress, while the uploaded still made the fixture above the cubicle clearly visible.
Responding to enquiries, the retailer said the worry that customers were being filmed clearly inside the fitting room did not arise in practice. It said installers adjusted the recording angle with the contractor and checked the coverage so the configuration would not capture the interior of the changing space.
Even so, the company accepted that putting a camera above the fitting room was a decision that lacked proper consideration. Once it learned of the complaint, staff took the unit down at once and apologised for the unease and loss of trust the sighting caused among customers.
2nd STREET said the camera was meant for store security — deterring theft and helping staff reconstruct disputes or other incidents on the shop floor — not for watching people change. After the episode it reviewed the recorded angles again and said personal privacy inside the fitting room had not been breached.
To stop a repeat, the chain said it would re-examine CCTV layouts across all Hong Kong outlets, tightening how cameras sit near changing areas so security needs do not again collide with shoppers’ reasonable expectation of privacy when they step behind a curtain.
