There is a part of each of us that loves the “gotcha” moment provided by a reporter with a hidden camera, but  the hidden camera investigation can veer toward voyeurism. And if the preying reporter underestimates the cunning of the intended prey, all bets are off. When the hidden camera ploy is uncovered in the midst of an investigation credibility disappears as quickly as a the reporter from the scene. Ethically, there are situations where it is possible to justify the use of the hidden camera, but oftentimes the effort is not worth the result.

For Dateline NBCs Michele Madigan, a plan to infiltrate DefCon, “the world’s largest underground hacking convention, by registering as a hacker and pretending not to be a journalist, will become an ethics and practice case study with my students in September and might give pause to anyone considering this kind of investigation.

Wired’s Kim Zetter has the story in her blog, Threat Level , including photos of Madigan’s abrupt departure from the con followed by photographers who are not hiding their cameras. DefCon runs through Sunday Aug. 5th if you want to make your own attempt to sneak in and hack the hackers.

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