The concept of spyware spying through phones.
Spy apps, also known as tracking apps, secretly track and monitor devices. Once installed and hidden on a phone, they can track someone’s location, monitor web search history, receive alerts for specific web search terms, remotely control the camera and microphone, and read all incoming messages .
While headlines often highlight the impact of spyware on national security, a hidden world of spy apps also allows people to track each other’s phones, raising serious privacy concerns.
Antivirus firm Avast reports a staggering 239% increase in mobile stalkerware encounters globally over the past three years. Around 1-3% of women in Europe have experienced cyberbullying, an EU Parliament study found. And 30% of respondents think it is acceptable to monitor their partner without consent in certain situations, such as suspected infidelity, security concerns or suspected criminal activities.
Spy Apps Promotional Strategies
Many of these apps are advertised as tools to secretly monitor phones. They often hide their icons or masquerade as other apps on the victim’s device.
Although these apps are mainly used by lovers or spouses spying on each other, many promotional websites claim that they are mainly for parents who want to track their child’s phone usage or location.
This is because in most countries it is illegal to install an app on another person’s phone without permission. However, the rules are different for minor children. Parents, as device owners, can install apps on their child’s phone without the child’s consent. By marketing their apps this way, developers try to distance themselves from illegal uses of their products.
Another tactic used by spyware apps to stay in compliance with the law is to claim that users must follow the law and may even be asked to confirm that they have permission to install the app by filling out a specific form. However, this often contradicts their marketing, which promotes the apps as undetectable and stealthy.
How and why people use spy apps
Such marketing is necessary for them as these apps are involved in crimes such as child pornography, identity fraud, blackmail, domestic violence (including abuse of partners, children and parents) and human trafficking. In some cases, spy apps have been linked to serious violence, including murder.
People spy on their partners for a variety of reasons, including gathering evidence of infidelity, checking their partner’s fidelity, and trying to understand changes in their partner’s behavior. Additionally, some individuals monitor their partner’s device data and accounts as a way to keep track of their activities.
Signs that your phone can be monitored
You may be at risk of having your phone monitored if someone has gained access to your device, if you have received the device from someone else, or if you leave your phone unattended with someone, even if you believe they do not know your password.
These apps are designed to blend in with a device’s normal functions, often marketed as undetectable. They may appear under different names in the list of applications; for example, an app is listed as “iPhoneInternalService” on iPhone and “Update Service” on Android devices. Some apps are disguised as games or calculators.
To detect spy apps on a phone, look for these signs:
- Extremely high bills.
- Closing problems.
- Reduced storage space.
- Faster battery drain.
- Overheating.
- Increase in mobile data usage.
- Messages are read or opened without your knowledge.
You can research further by:
- Checking browser history or App Store / Google Play for unknown search terms.
- Looking for changes in settings, especially if legitimate apps have unusual permissions.
- Identifying any unknown app among processes on an Android device.
- Ensuring that the built-in security tool, Play Protect, is not disabled on an Android device.
Steps to secure your phone
You can take preventative measures to secure your phone, such as monitoring who has access to your device. Other steps include:
- Setting up facial or fingerprint recognition to prevent unauthorized access.
- Tracking which apps have access to the camera or GPS tracking and limiting those permissions to a few necessary apps.
- Using applications designed to detect spyware. Be careful, as installing an anti-spyware app can alert the person who installed it on your device. There are specialized solutions available that can detect spyware without notifying the person behind it.
- Using iOS Lockdown Mode to Stop Spyware Apps.
Security measures in crimes related to the spy app
If you discover a spy app on your device, avoid removing or restricting access to it right away. This can alert the person who is spying on you, putting you at risk. They may use other forms of control or even become violent.
Police can use regular mail and meet victims at familiar, neutral locations such as their workplace or a local grocery store. During meetings, they may place the victim’s phone in a Faraday bag. It is a specialized bag made of conductive materials, such as metal mesh, that creates a shield, preventing electromagnetic fields from entering or leaving the bag, thus blocking all wireless signals such as GPS and Wi-Fi and making the device appear temporarily off to anyone trying to spy on it. This allows the phone to be quickly examined, using spy apps as evidence for a possible lawsuit.