In the evolving world of security the industry is always looking for new and improved ways to carry out surveillance, but now a smartphone app has been developed that allows you to spy on every movement, conversation, and interaction its user makes.
The morally dubious mSpy app allows you to remotely monitor Facebook activity, text messages, phone calls, incoming and outgoing emails, and pictures or videos taken by the phone. Perhaps most alarmingly, it even allows you to turn the phone into a bug, recording conversations that are happening within the vicinity of the device. And the app is supposedly “100% invisible and undetectable” to the phone’s user, or “target” as mSpy refers to them.
The app is marketed at concerned parents and business owners who want to legitimately keep tabs on their children and employees’ activities. For a business, the app makes sense, making it easier for an employer to monitor their staffs call logs, or their location when on a business trip, for example.
There is a disclaimer on the website that reads:
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.
But what isn’t clear is why the GB pound 24.99 (US$41) per month app needs to be completely undetectable, if you have first informed them that you have installed the surveillance app. Indeed, mSpy’s own marketing tacitly implies that one would not, realistically, ask permission before installing the app.
In this promo video produced last year, the presenter, “Alan,” states quite clearly:
Unlike its competitors, mSpy is completely invisible to the person you’re monitoring. Owners of the target phone will never have any idea that mSpy has been installed.
Alan then introduces an mSpy “user” called Brad, who one suspects is not actually a business owner, rather a struggling actor. Brad explains how he used the app to listen in to “personal conversations just by having the phone in the same room” as one of his employees. He continues to reveal how he installed the software on his son’s phone, suspecting he was using drugs, through which he was able to read text messages confirming his suspicions. Brad also thought his wife was having an affair, and after she denied it, he installed the software on her phone as well.
Now Brad, as well as being a touch paranoid, gives a firm impression throughout that he never asked permission to install this software, which amounts to a breach of privacy and human rights, and would land him in court in almost any civilized country.
In the UK an individual’s right to privacy is protected by Article 8 of the European Human Rights Act, and additionally, the privacy of a person’s communications and correspondence is protected by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA). Liberty’s guide to your rights in respect to this explains:
It is an offence for any person intentionally, and without lawful authority, to intercept any communication in the course of its transmission through a public telecommunication system and — except in specified circumstances — through a private telecommunication system . This offence is established under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA). So it will be unlawful for a person to intercept, for instance, a telephone call though a landline, a call or text message through a mobile network, an email or message sent though the internet.
The way that mSpy has got around the problem of producing an app that could be potentially used for illegal and immoral surveillance activity is through their disclaimer, which states that anyone who downloads the software will not monitor any adult without their expressed permission. This puts the onus on the person who downloading the service.
But then, that’s what illegal file sharing website The Pirate Bay said, as it didn’t actually host any illegal files, merely the means to download such files, and you’ll struggle to access that website now.
The security industry is responsibly run by professionals. The potential for apps such as mSpy to undermine confidence in legitimate surveillance measures is great. Most worryingly, mSpy claims to have almost a million customers. Maybe the software is already on a phone near you?
What do you think? Would you use mSpy or apps like it or should they be banned?
It’s so open to abuse and as peoples entire lives are on their phones, this is frightening.
I agree that it’s wrong to promote an app that is completely invasive of privacy and in turn immoral, but isn’t that the gamble we take with being so digitally reliant?Over the years I’ve noticed an increase in apps or software that offer these sorts of functions, it just seems like maybe this particular app has combined all of them and shamelessly promotes itself. It’s not the first and definitely not the last, and there will always be someone who will buy this sort of app.The same way Pirate Bay is actually very easy to access still (if you know… Read more »
Configuring security settings doesn’t take much at all, but for instance my girlfriend knows all of my passwords, if she wanted to ‘spy’ on my phone she can get through all my security. I’ve got nothing to hide, but I feel like the very existence of this app erodes trust and communication. Why not just ask your son if he’s on drugs? He’s hardly going to thank you for finding out by literally spying on him.
@ holmesd
I agree this is very frightening. And, I don’t really understand how it is completely legal when one could potentially download the app to anyones phone if they get their hands on it for a minute.
@ Leora
I agree with you, users must become more vigilant when it comes to security. Too many people just don’t think its important to protect their information. I also think you are correct that if it wasn’t this App, it would be another one.
@ Rob
I agree with you. It’s almost the equivelant of parents rifling through your peronal letters back in the 80’s. (Yes, that was my dear mother…snooping through my stuff to try to catch me at something). I would have much rather appreciated her to just ask me what she wanted to know instead of invading my privacy.
The privacy debate is always relevant to those of us in video surveillance, and it doesn’t change whether we’re talking about video, or phones. Any surveillance should be proportional, reasonable, and it should be legal. If it’s not then trust in those who monitor us is eroded, and it becomes more difficult for them to monitor those who are doing wrong.
So is this Asset Management ware or Stalk ware, I can understand the need for a lot of things but to remotely enable the phone for bugging conversations, really? Thats a step beyond, if you are using it on employees then I would think that if you are that suspicious of their activities you would be better off just firing them than to spend your time looking for a reason to fire them and get peoples feelings hurt at the same time. Kids to a degree I could understand the feature some but at the same time it still pushes… Read more »
There are some who are not in favour of mSpy as it is a “spying” thing and is against the privacy of individuals. We do know that Everything has its advantages and disadvantages and when one quality is much more than the other it does empower it as a whole and represent that thing as “Good” or “Bad”. I think mSpy is a great application as it helps the parents to keep an eye on their kids. A lot of things we do to protect our children might be considered “spying” by our kids, but they are in fact measures we take… Read more »
Giving a child privacy as to what goes on in their room or in their Mobile is a privilege you give them because they are trustworthy and honest. In my opinion, it’s not a right. And our kids should know that if they violate the trust and honesty, one of the things that’s going to change is that we are going to be watching them more carefully. And yes, that might mean going through their rooms , their Mobile activity or looking through their email. But that’s the price they pay for being dishonest and untrustworthy. We all have to… Read more »
@Shehrbano Kamran I am not saying its not a useful tool and I dont believe it should be banned but I do believe this product should enjoy a version with less features and abilities and still meet the needs and demands of it users. I can understand tracking a child I can understand monitoring their activity and keeping a watchful eye, but bugging them when they are not aware? You think you have problems with your kids now just wait till they find out you are bugging them to find out whats going on. It would not take a smart… Read more »
I agree, I was a ridiculously secretive kid and that was pre internet etc, where the potential is much more frightening today. Parents just cant keep tabs on all the medai kids have access to. But the potential for misuse with this app is massive and these developers need to consider the implications of these kinds of apps/ technology.
Any interpersonal relationship, Parent/Child, between spouses, where this becomes necessary is already in trouble. People should give that serious consideration before using it.
I never said that we have to bug our kids without their knowledge. Things could be difficult when they find out that they were being bugged. As i mentioned earlier Our kids should know that if they violate the trust and honesty, one of the things that’s going to change is that we are going to be watching them more carefully. And yes, that might mean going through their rooms , their Mobile activity or looking through their email. But that’s the price they pay for being dishonest and untrustworthy. This spying on kids only relate to the betrayal of… Read more »
There are always advantages and disadvantages of everything. When a thing got more advantages as compared to its disadvantages then that thing is taken as good for use. But still after it being good for use if we keep thinking on the disadvantages again and again then that thing could not be useful to us. We should be aware of the Use and abuse thing. All the useful things can be misused by us. If we keep emphasizing on the abuse stuff then we could never be able to use that thing. TV is not a bad thing but watching… Read more »
@Shehrbano Kamran, I was not attributing the bugging thing to you or your comment Sheh. It is one of the apps features from the article and I disagree with that feature. To take the app as it now is I think is dubious, however with a reduced feature set such as no bugging capability I think it could be a invaluable tool as a parent or manager.
like everything else in life technology have both sides good and bad… kids is our future and we need to watch protect them… also you are right technology do gives tools to protect kids online and offline…
yes, you are right we are forgeting our humanity as we more and more relay on technology….
I agree too, as the kids becoming wizards in technology, but more and more moving away from parents and keping everything secret… forgeting about safety and trust towards parents…
I understand your concerns regarding the apps features. You are not with the point of bugging so am I. The only difference is that you are totally against it and I am in the favor of giving prior ultimatum to the kids that if something goes wrong you will be monitored. It is just like the terms and conditions we follow in our daily routine. We admit to abide by the terms and conditions then we move on. So that are just like Terms and conditions which kids have to follow.
You are right batye about the kids becoming wizards in technology and moving away from parents and keep everything secret. That is the real problem that kids don’t consider their family trustworthy. They will tell everything to a newly made ffriend on the internet but don’t like to share with their family. That is the reason kids now a days have so many problems in very young ages. Remembering our forefathers times there were not too much problems with the kids. Kids really enjoy their time with their family. If the parents do stricknes that is for the betterment of… Read more »
thank you, in my youth I did trust my parent with everything… but new generation does scary me a lot…
Actually the great advancement in technology also played part in putting parents away from the childre as they spend more and more time with their Gadgets than their parents. But again it is the matter of Use and Abuse of any thing. The products are not bad but their usage can be bad. If we use gadgets for better reasons than they would be more useful towards the person itself.
It does depend on the person who use or abuse any certain product. Most of our teenagers are not very close to their parents. Parents should need our presence near them if not all the time than at least most of the time. Many parents feel the pain of their children not meeting them for ages. People die in a hope of seing their kids all their old life. loneliness look after them instead of their kids. They dont deserve visits or calls on their birthdays , fathers day or mothers day. They need our attention and we all should take… Read more »
I think we are getting separated by technology forgeting part of our humanity…
Offcourse as the technology is getting more and more advance we are getting more and more separated from our parents. They normally claims that it is the technology who is connecting people with each other. In a way its true but we dont understand the issue that we are connecting to those who are not very important and we are getting separated from the real close ones.
This is terrifying indeed. The very fact that this app can be completely undetectable betrays some sinister motive for the development of this app. Obviously it can be useful for official purposes when used openly by some company on reasonable grounds. There can hardly be any rationale behind its being undetectable. A simple disclaimer doesn’t absolve them of this violation of privacy in my opinion at least.
@ Leora Grace, you made a very important point. It is very important to know the in-depth knowledge of the technology used in the device we are using. Knowledge of technology is also important when it comes to keeping our children from wrong uses of some technology. That is why it is advisable to understand the usage of technology we are handing over to our children.
@ Rob,
I agree in some situations, when their is good reason, surveillance should be used and it should be legal. I agree if it is done secretly it does damage trust between the monitors and the ones being monitored.
yes, trust is important… but in reality most of the time security is a never ending battlefield… how I see it…
it more like we are building doors before understanding and willing to admit we have a problem…
same apply to technology few months ago I heard about routers heating canadian market with the malware build in the router chip….
we need to compreched and understan technology before starting use it… as we could be exposing ourself to unkown danger…