Previously, if you wanted to keep an eye on your spouse, you would have to rummage through their drawer and closet to find secret letters and memorabilia. The last few decades introduced security locks and codes to help protect personal information from prying eyes. People have now begun storing information on their smartphones, and more recently tablets, in password-protected files and folders. Similar security measures can be taken for calls and text messages.
The field of science and technology is strange. For every new item or installation it creates, it also offers an antidote. This explains the creation and release of mobile phone spyware.
Spyware: An Introduction
Spyware is software applications that allow users to collect confidential information about a person or organization without their knowledge. These kinds of tracking software apps are typically used to monitor cell phone activity, but can also be used on tablets and computers.
Phone spyware apps are installed on a device, secretly. Once installed on the phone or computer, spyware exports various details, including call logs, text messages sent and received, mobile Internet connections, web pages visited, and the phone’s physical location.
Typically, the data is exported to a cloud server where the spying party can access the date to view it.
Some very advanced phone apps also allow users to listen in on phone conversations and use the phone as a microphone: someone spying can listen in on a conversation in a room where the phone is. The owner of the phone, tablet or computer has no clue that private information is being transferred to a third party through the tracking software application.
types of spyware
1) Most are in the form of hidden malware that usually accompanies free downloads or gains access to your system when you visit porn sites. As soon as they get in, they automatically configure themselves and start leaking private and confidential information.
2) The other type includes software applications that are purchased and installed on the device to be tracked. Once the app has been successfully installed, the user simply needs to log in to the app’s website to track their movements and access their information.
Who can use spyware for mobile phones?
Spyware has gotten a bad reputation because it is heavily used by criminals and stalkers. Covertly collecting information may also not seem like a very good idea to you. However, it is not bad if it is for the good of the other person or for the good of people in general.
Computer and cell phone spyware was used to launch successful commercial marketing campaigns. By monitoring a person’s Internet usage, including websites visited and pages viewed, business owners attempted to modify their marketing strategies and thereby reach their target audience.
Parents and spouses make up a large percentage of commercial spyware users. As far as parents are concerned, the use is for a good reason. Given the amount of time children spend online, parents need to monitor the websites their children visit, the people they communicate with, and their whereabouts; whether they attend school regularly or spend their time elsewhere. Spouses also have the right to know if their partner is cheating on them.
Answering the question posed in the title: useful or privacy intrusion, it’s all about how you use the phone spyware app! It’s certainly important to note that phone spyware available online is illegal in most countries without user consent (or a court order).
So while parents might put spyware on their kids’ phones to protect them, if a husband puts it on his wife’s phone without her knowledge, it’s an illegal invasion of privacy.