Technology can turn a smartphone into a high-tech spying device allowing remote access to the handset. The attackers are able to keep track of the phone owner’s current location. The abuser is also able to remotely switch on the phone’s microphone and listen in to anything within earshot of the handset.
Up to 50% of abusive partners are using some form of electronic surveillance to stalk their victims, shows a recent study by Digital Trust.
Violent partners are increasingly using spying software installed on mobile phones and computers to track and intimidate their victims, according to research by campaign groups.
Spyware is a type of software that can track location, read emails, see passwords and access stored pictures and information without the owner’s knowledge. It also tends to be designed to go undetected by anti-virus software – so it can be difficult to find and remove.
A British company is currently marketing its own spyware app for £30 which works on Android phones. The software, which cannot be detected by the casual user, turns the average smartphone into a powerful surveillance platform.
Jennifer Perry, chief executive of the newly formed Digital-Trust said in an interview the other week that in her experience it is more likely to happen to female victims.
“I get a lot of criticism for saying it but I don’t see this level or type of surveillance used against male victims,” she added.
“I see men using it against women. It is rare to see a man targeted surveillance-wise by women.”
In addition to cheap surveillance devices – small GPS trackers, listening devices and cameras hidden inside books, lamps, plug sockets and carbon monoxide detectors, are freely available online despite some of them being illegal.
A survey by Women’s Aid discovered that 41% of domestic violence victims had been subjected to some form of illicit electronic surveillance.
Some abusive spouses will even install spyware software on Christmas presents for their children to find out what was happening inside their victim’s phone.
“Domestic abuse is about control and perpetrators will use any means available to maintain and increase their control,” Polly Neate, chief executive of Women’s Aid, told The Independent.
She added that the charity increasingly hears stories of abusers adding tracking software to phones and computers – often given as gifts at Christmas and on birthdays – to gather information about their partners.
“However, in many cases the police are not trained to recognise and understand the impact of online abuse, including tracking, and action is rarely taken against abusers.”
Using spying software to eavesdrop on or stalk a victim is illegal in the UK, but it can be difficult to prove that someone’s been spying on you in this way.
For more information on this subject check out this guide by Women’s Aid.
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