Sometimes Joe Cadillic sends me links to articles that infuriate me. This is one of them.
Victoria Woollaston reports:
It’s bad enough checking your partner’s phone when they leave the room, or taking a peek at their Facebook page, yet a new app takes this level of snooping not just a step further, but a giant leap forward.
The mSpy app works on select smartphones including Apple, Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone and can be used to gain access to an unprecedented level of personal information.
It records phone calls, tracks a person’s location, lets users remotely read texts, Skype, Facebook and Viber messages, view browsing history and even see how much battery the phone has left.
Read more on Daily Mail.
My Spy (mspy.com) claims that the person doing the spying must own the device being tracked, or the person being tracked must give their permission. And they verify that…. how? Oh, look, here’s their disclaimer on their web site:
Disclaimer
My Spy (mSpy) is designed for monitoring your children, employees or others on a smartphone or mobile device that you own or have proper consent to monitor. You are required to notify users of the device that they are being monitored.
Or what? Well, according to their site:
My Spy Legal Agreement
It is a considered federal and/or state violation of the law in most cases to install surveillance software onto a mobile phone or other device for which you do not have proper authorization, and in most cases you are required to notify users of the device that they are being monitored. Failure to do so may result in a violation of federal or state laws, if you install this software onto a device you do not own or if you do not have proper consent to monitor the user of the device.
We absolutely do not endorse the use of our software for illegal purposes.
In order to purchase and download surveillance software from My Spy, you must consent to and agree with the following conditions:
- You acknowledge and agree that you are the legal owner of the mobile phone or device onto which the software is installed, or that you have received the expressed, written consent of the device owner granting you the right to be the authorized administrator of the phone, it’s content and its users.
- If you install My Spy software onto a phone that is not owned by you, or for which you do not have proper consent, we are obligated to comply with law enforcement officials to the fullest extent of the law in these instances, or any instance where this use is deemed to be illegal by local, state or federal law. This obligation includes providing to the proper authorities any and all requested customer data, and any other purchase-related or product-oriented information.
- You agree that you will gain knowledge of all local, state and federal laws to ensure that you are in compliance with all laws and restrictions in your specific geographic region. It may be illegal in your area to monitor other individuals on a device whether or not your own the device. You agree that you will under no circumstances monitor any adult without their expressed prior knowledge and consent.
- You agree to the conditions in our End-User License Agreement, and you acknowledge and agree that My Spy is not liable for any incidental damage to you or your device, nor for any litigation or legal action that may arise as a result of the use, abuse or misuse of mSpy.
So it’s a pinky swear privacy protection system, it seems. I wonder how much their business would drop off if they sent a confirming email to the user of the device?