Ivana Davidovic is a person.
Business reporter.
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Several adverts for applications that encourage users to spy on their partner's phone have been removed.
Maria says she grew up in a loving Catholic family on the east coast of America and that she always had large Sunday dinners. Her parents had a good marriage and she wanted the same in her relationship.
It felt like love when she met her husband.
The tale of abuse and control turned into a 25-year tale after romance soured. The name-calling began. Control of her finances, her movements, and eventually over their three sons, was given to her.
Her husband banned her from using the computer because he objected to her having a job where she would interact with other people.
She says that he would barricade her out of the house when he was angry.
Financial abuse increased. He applied for credit cards in Maria's name after taking away her paycheque.
Maria broke down when she heard him say he wanted her dead. She formulated an escape plan with the help of her family and church.
She moved in with her sister after they lost their property to foreclosure. She finally had the freedom to set up a Facebook account after getting a laptop for the first time. She began dating.
Soon, her ex-husband would quote her messages to a man she was seeing. Her ex started showing up wherever she was.
He was driving behind her on the motorway. She called the police once because she was terrified that he was going to pull a gun on her.
She didn't press charges because the stalking subsided and she moved further away. She was 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217
The software is used to spy on another person without their consent.
It can allow the user to see other people's messages, location, photos, files, and even eavesdrop on conversations in the phone's vicinity.
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Eva Galperin says that technology is involved in domestic abuse.
Eva Galperin formed the Coalition Against Stalkerware to help solve the problem.
She decided to set up the group after hearing reports from rape victims who were terrified their lives could be ruined by their abusers use of tech. She explains that someone has access to your phone and can exploit it. A victim could be blackmailed with threats to share intimate photos.
Ms Galperin says that in the domestic abuse cases she encounters, "some level of tech-enabled abuse is almost universally there".
She says that it's linked to the most violent cases because it's a powerful tool of coercive control.
A study byNorton Labs found that the number of devices indicating that they had stalkerware installed rose between September 2020 and May 2021.
The report suggested that the increase could be due to people spending more time at home.
The report found that perpetrators of tech-enabled abuse are likely to install stalkerware on their partner's devices because personal belongings are easily within arm's reach.
Ms Galperin has been trying to convince anti-viruses to take this type of malicious software more seriously, after initially being reluctant to mark it as a legitimate program.
Several adverts for applications that encourage prospective users to spy on their partner's phone were removed by Google in October. These apps are often marketed to parents who want to watch their child's movements and messages, but instead have been used to spy on their spouses.
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US authorities are cracking down on firms that sell software that allows users to spy on other devices.
The US Federal Trade Commission banned SpyFone for harvesting and sharing data about people's movements and activities after discovering that it was using a hidden device hack.
Some stalkerware apps and advice on how to use them are accessible online despite the positive moves.
The FTC is looking into firms that sell and purchase phone location data of users without their knowledge, according to Ms Galperin. Private investigators use this tech to track their targets' locations.
stalkerware is designed to be difficult to spot, so even those who are more tech savvy can fall prey to it.
Charlotte was a senior cybersecurity analyst.
She realized that her phone was malfunctioning soon after she got engaged. Her phone would restart suddenly and her battery would quickly drain, both telling signs of stalkerware being installed on her device.
She finally connected the dots after her partner made it clear that he knew where she was.
She went to a hacker meet-up to get some advice. She was familiar with some of the faces of the industry her partner worked in.
She was shocked to find a culture of acceptance of being able to track your partner.
The "tech bro" environment inspired her to move into cybersecurity to bolster the industry's representation from different perspectives.
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Tracking your partner is something that some in the tech world think is fine.
A quick internet search shows many services that claim to be able to hack into a person's phone with just a phone number.
The cybersecurity experts believe that the websites are likely to be scam. Charlotte says people can learn to be careful about stalkerware that relies on social engineering.
The target might be invited to click on a link in a text message.
A fake app, masquerading as a legitimate one, might be shared with them.
Charlotte says "don't be afraid" if you try to uninstall a suspicious app.
Sometimes they use scare tactics to get users not to uninstall the software. They use a lot of social engineering techniques.
Charlotte recommends changing all of your social media account passwords, using two-factor authentication, and doing a factory reset of your phone if all else fails.
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Don't be afraid to remove a suspicious app from your phone.
What would be the best way to deal with the problem?
Most countries have anti-stalking and wiretapping laws.
In 2020, France introduced a new bill on domestic violence, which reinforced sanctions on secret surveillance, as well as a new law that made it a crime to track someone without their consent. The fines are higher if this is done by your partner.
Eva Galperin doesn't think this is a problem that we can ever expect new legislation to solve.
She thinks that both Apple and Google could make it impossible to buy any of these apps in their stores.
She says that the focus should be on better training for the police to take the problem more seriously.
She says that one of the biggest issues she sees issurvivors coming to law enforcement and expecting them to enforce the law and then telling them there's no problem.
A new type of service has been created to support domestic abuse victims.
The Clinic To End Tech Abuse is associated with Cornell University. CETA works with abuse survivors and gathers research about tech misuse.
Sometimes they might not recommend removing stalkerware from the victim's phone immediately, without doing some safety planning first with a case worker. Past experience has shown that if the victim's phone is suddenly cut, it can lead to violence.
Maria has been free from her abusive marriage for six years and things are not perfect but they are looking up.
She says she is in a good relationship with someone who cares about her and is behind her.
She still gets anxious about her phone. She was diagnosed with a mental illness. She wants other survivors to know that cyber-stalking is not exclusive to them.
Don't be afraid. There is help available. If I can do it at my age, anyone can do it.
