Can the previous owner still see a used Wi-Fi baby monitor?

Can they still open the app after I take the camera home?

If it is a Wi-Fi / app camera, the live view lives on an account, not only on the plastic in your hand. Which? says the previous owner must fully delete their information and account access before you take ownership. Until that delete happens, their phone can still open the same camera — including after you have plugged it into your router — because the device is still theirs in the cloud.

Which? also reports real cases of internet cameras being watched or spoken through when passwords stayed weak or default. That is a stranger on an open login, or a leftover owner, not a terrace radio effect. NCSC: change default passwords, use a strong password (three random words), turn on 2-step verification, and switch off remote access if you do not need to open the camera away from home.

NCSC: if you think someone has taken control of a device, reset it from the manufacturer's instructions. A seller who can still talk through the speaker is that case. Then run the factory-reset steps on your bench.

Parent-unit pairing versus a cloud camera

A leftover parent-unit pairing is not someone watching from another town. It is the seller's spare screen still bound to the camera, or your new screen still bound to a camera they kept. Reset both ends. There is no cloud login to revoke.

What should I ask the seller before I plug it in?

1. 1
   Remove the device on their phone, on a video call if you need proof Watch the camera disappear from their app. A verbal 'I reset it' is not the same as an account delete. Which? wants information and access gone.
2. 2
   Factory-reset on the unit Menu or the pinhole the UK page names for that model. NCSC: seller wipes before sale; you wipe again before use. Full button steps are on the factory-reset page.
3. 3
   Do not join your home Wi-Fi yet If they have not deleted the device, first power-on on your network can phone their account. Use a guest network or a temporary hot-spot, or wait until the screenshot is in your hand.
4. 4
   New account, new password, 2-step verification Your email. NCSC password guidance; Which? : do not keep the default. Turn remote viewing off if you will only watch in the house.
5. 5
   Guest Wi-Fi if the router has one Put the camera on a guest or IoT SSID so a compromised camera is not sitting on the same LAN as your laptop. Then search the model code on GOV.UK recalls.

Guest Wi-Fi, a new password and two-step verification — is that enough?

Those three are the NCSC / Which? baseline for a connectable camera, not a finish line. From 29 April 2024, UK PSTI rules for new connectable products ban universal default passwords and require a published minimum security-update period. A used monitor may be older than that law. Check the maker's support end date. NCSC treats an out-of-support device as easier to abuse.

MayTally's safety lookup only searches a hand-picked set of OPSS notices. Use it as a shortcut, then open the GOV.UK list. Not found means no recall on file. Pair that search with the reset; one does not replace the other.

What if they still appear after a reset?

• Their email is still the sign-in — you are on their account. Sign out, factory-reset again, create a new account. Do not change *their* password and keep the same login.
• A second phone still gets the push — a family share or a leftover authorised device. Strip every shared user in the app, then change the password.
• Talk-back with no app you recognise — power the camera off, reset from the maker's page, and do not reconnect remote access until the account is one you created. NCSC: manufacturer's reset if you think someone has control.
• Parent-unit kit, no app, leftover picture — run the pairing reset on both ends. If the seller kept a second screen, that screen can still show the camera until you re-pair yours as the only parent unit.

The Lullaby Trust's position does not change with any of this: a monitor is not a substitute for an adult in the same room for the first six months, and the unit stays out of the baby's reach.

In shortA used Wi-Fi camera can still be the seller's camera until they delete it and you reset it onto an account you own. A parent-unit pair is local: reset and re-pair. Guest Wi-Fi, a new password and 2-step verification are the baseline. None of that is a recall check or a promise that nobody can ever reconnect.