However, there is still stalkerware that can affect iPhones. Stalkerware on iOSįor Apple users, the good news is that iOS makes it harder for stalkerware to run on an iPhone. And just this week, Google pulled a number of stalkerware ads for violating the company’s ban on promoting surveillance apps. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently issued its first ever ban of a stalkerware app. This is pretty obvious if you look at their online advertising and SEO strategy.įortunately, both government regulators and Big Tech are starting to take action. But of course, stalkerware developers are well aware that their apps are used by abusers to spy on their partners. This gives them plausible deniability, and keeps their apps in Google Play and the App Store. Manufacturers of stalkerware apps frequently market themselves as “parental monitoring” tools. But unfortunately, it’s not always illegal in and of itself. If stalkerware seems creepy, wrong, and downright abusive, that’s because it is. But it doesn’t try to hide its presence from the user, and is typically installed with some semblance of consent.

This kind of mobile monitoring software is definitely invasive (and arguably unethical). Similarly, student and employee monitoring software, when deployed on managed devices, is not stalkerware per se. What distinguishes stalkerware from something like Pegasus is that it is most often used in the context of abusive relationships: as a way of surveilling an intimate partner or of controlling them. It’s probably most useful to think of stalkerware as a subtype of spyware.įor example, Pegasus spyware, a powerful mobile surveillance tool used by nation states and law enforcement agencies, wouldn’t be classified as stalkerware - even though it’s used to monitor people without their consent.

Stalkerware and spyware are related, but they’re not identical. “Stalkerware refers to tools - software programs, apps and devices - that enable someone to secretly spy on another person’s private life via their mobile device”. A good general definition comes from the Coalition Against Stalkerware, an industry group working to end stalkerware:

Stalkerware is an umbrella term that describes a range of privacy threats. Read on to learn more about the phenomenon of stalkerware, and how to check for stalkerware on an iPhone. Stalkerware is frequently thought of as an Android problem, but it can affect iOS users as well. How to check for stalkerware on an iPhone

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