23 November 2019 | New Scientist | 21partner that is most insidious.
Christina Dardis at Towson
University in Maryland has
studied the mental health effects
of stalking, including cases where
stalkers turn to technology to spy
on or harass their target, broadly
known as cyberstalking.Stressful situation
Such behaviour can cause
post-traumatic stress disorder
or depression, she says, as well
as prompting worries of further
abuses. “Some victims fear that
their partners will use the
information they obtain from
their surveillance to blackmail
or shame them,” says Dardis.
Cyberstalking is also correlated
with other forms of harassment,
including physical stalking and
sexual violence, she says.
Stalkerware is really a symptom
of a deeper problem. “There’s
kind of an assumption with
technology misuse that if you
remove the technology you stop
the abuse,” says Erica Olsen at
the US National Network to End
Domestic Violence.
In reality, these apps clearly
fulfil a disturbing demand.
One review on FlexiSpy’s website,
apparently left by a customer,
says they purchased the software
to keep tabs on their wife. Seeing
her calls, photos and locations
was “very helpful” the reviewer
says, before adding: “I’ll be
recommending this to anyone
that needs to know.” ❚Stalkerware programs
can follow your every
move onlineParsons says law enforcement
agencies in different countries
could collaborate to shut down
firms that market their products
for purposes that are abusive.
One issue is that this marketing
can be covert. Parsons and his
colleagues found that one
London-based firm, mSpy,
didn’t explicitly refer to spousal
snooping on its website. Instead,
web code concealed references
to such spying as a means of
attracting search traffic on the
subject. mSpy didn’t respond
to a request for comment.
Tactics like this can mean
that some stalkerware apps only
come to the attention of law
enforcement when their targets
report them – something Parsons
says shouldn’t be necessary.
“Women are suffering
incredibly serious harms because
of this and they don’t have to,”
he says. “Governments could
solve this if they chose to.”
People who install stalkerware
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newscientist.com/insighton their partners’ devices aren’t
just invading their privacy. Emm
says that because such apps often
ask the installer to deactivate
security protections, the target
is left open to other cyberthreats
such as malware.
Stalkerware providers
themselves can also be targeted.
In 2017, Retina-X was hit by a
hacker who was allegedly ableto retrieve photos and data
from the company’s servers of
people being stalked. That such
data was left vulnerable in this
way was another reason the
FTC decided to take action
against the firm.
But it is perhaps the
psychological impact of having
your phone completely
compromised by a romantic“Some victims fear that
their partners will use the
information to blackmail
or shame them”Affected by domestic violence?
Call the UK National Domestic
Violence Freephone Helpline on
0808 2000 247 or search online
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