A EUROPEAN backpacker thought she was having a private shower on Magnetic Island at the weekend, only to find once she finished that she had been recorded the whole time.

Magnetic Island police Senior Constable Brendan Nugent said the 23-year-old Belgian woman was showering in the bathroom of an Arcadia backpacker resort when she noticed an iPod.

"Upon checking it, she realised it had been recording her," Sen-Const Nugent told The Townsville Bulletin.

The senior constable said the victim made a complaint to police, who then arrested a 24-year-old British man Monday afternoon. Sen-Const Nugent said the iPod had been seized and the man had been charged with one count of observations or recordings in breach of privacy.

The offence carries a maximum sentence of two years imprisonment.

Police said the man told them he put the device in the shower area to recharge it, and didn't realise it was recording.

Read more at The Townsville Bulletin website