What’s wrong with “legal” commercial spyware

[harlan4096]

It’s safe to say that almost everyone has wanted to spy on someone at least once in their life, whether to make sure your partner is faithful, your kid has not fallen in with the wrong crowd, or your employee is not being courted by competition. The technologies for spying on colleagues and families are in great demand, which is universally known to breed supply.

The supply is represented by quite an impressive range of so-called legal spyware apps (aka stalkerware or spouseware), which can be installed on your employee’s or family member’s device for a relatively modest fee. These apps stay hidden and keep their users informed about device location, browser history, SMS messages, social media chats, and more. Some of them can even make video and voice recordings.

Stalkerware — unethical but legal (almost)

From a moral standpoint, it is not good to use stalkerware: Installed without the owner’s knowledge or consent, it operates in the background and has access to very personal information. Yet such applications are not illegal in many countries, even though spying on family members is legally prosecutable. Developers try to squeeze through legal loopholes, for example, by referring to their products as parental control solutions.

It’s no wonder people continue to buy these technically legal apps, unethical though they may be. Over the past year, more than 58,000 users have detected stalkerware on their phones or tablets with the help of our products alone. Of those, 35,000 had no idea about the stalkerware installed on their devices until our protection solution completed its first scan.

Continue Reading