Jealous Lovers Now Get NSA Powers!
from the brave-new-world dept
I've been thinking, with all the revelations coming out about the NSA spying on all of us, maybe we've been going about reacting the wrong way. I mean, we all seem to fall somewhere on the spectrum of being upset about this, from the more mildly uncomfortable but resigning folks that are okay with the spying to those more militant about privacy. What if we're all just pissed that we aren't the ones getting to do all this sweet, sweet surveillance on everyone we know.
Well, that's all changed, thanks to the makers of the mSpy software, which allows you to gift smart phones preinstalled with their software to those you care about most and then play NSA on them to your heart's content.
Starting today, the company is also selling phones preloaded with the software, making it simple for users without any tech savvy to start surveillance right out of the box. The phone package is available with the HTC One, Nexus 5, Samsung Galaxy S4 and iPhone 5s, at varying cost; for example, the Samsung Galaxy S4 costs $300; the subscription for the preloaded software costs another $199 for a year.Count me as someone who is suddenly even more glad than ever that I'm out of the dating world. On the other hand, I suppose it'll be weird for any of us married folks to get smart phones as gifts from now on as well. Oh well, down the surveillance hatch, I say! The NSA spies on us, we spy on each other, and the important thing to remember is that the makers of this software, which advertises to buyers that their targets "won't find out", are the most innocent of innocents here.
[From the moment the software is installed], the phone records everything that happens on the device and sends the details to a remote website. Every call is recorded, every keystroke logged, every email seen, every SMS chat or photograph monitored.
The phone's proclaimed target markets are employers and parents who have the legal authority to watch what their children do on their smart phones. Company founder Andrei Shimanovich knows others may use his products in illegal ways, but says it is not his responsibility.And creepy bastards, estranged lovers, stalkers, or anyone else who might be able to surreptitiously sneak this software onto the phones of whomever they're targeting. While it's completely true that we ought not blame the tool-maker for the way the tool is used, that doesn't discount the level of creepy in this software. Gone, apparently, are the days when parents raised their children to be responsible and then loosed them on the world to make a few mistakes and grow up better because of it. Gone are the days when employers made it a point to hire staff that they trusted. The NSA has paved the way for a whole new level of Orwellian acceptance, where the only difference between government surveillance and that we do ourselves is that our personal spying might actually be effective, since it will be more targeted.
"It is the same question with the gun producer," says Shimanovich, a Belarus native who recently moved to New York. "If you go out and buy a gun and go shoot someone, no one will go after the gun producer. People who shoot someone will be responsible for this. Same thing for mSpy. We just provide the services which can solve certain tasks regarding parents and teenagers."
Prepare yourselves, people, for when the news media first gets hold of some stalker who commits a violent act and is found to have employed this software, because the backlash against it is going to be insane.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: privacy, spying, surveillance, trust
Companies: mspy
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Not to say the NSA is the one running this(though if they don't have a tap on this company, or aren't scrambling to set up one I would be insanely surprised), but rather the fact that the NSA has so far faced a whole bunch of sternly worded letters, and some angry politicians, and nothing else due to their actions is almost certainly why this company feels safe in pushing a product so insanely open to abuse like this.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
HA! Jokes on you guys.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
IANAL, but this is just an awful idea. And likely to get found out when something else reports their software as malware, when they get a bill showing massive amounts of data use but all they ever do is call or text, etc etc etc.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Excellent news for rapists and pedophiles and kidnappers
So remember: Andrei Shimanovich is the one responsible -- no matter what he says.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
developmental stage
[ link to this | view in thread ]
seriously
I would say exempt those working on National Security & Top Secret stuff, but, based on their actions & disregard for Laws & the Constitution, they're the ones who need the transparency the most!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Yes but this is ON THE INTERNET so its completely different; secondary liability as courtified by the recent mp3 case applies.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
For my kids
I'd buy two. It'd be nice to know what it is my kids are constantly deleting from their phones.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Jilted Lovers
•Computers collecting and analyzing Internet traffic is just as much "surveillance" as a person peeping through a window
•Note that human rights law doesn't allow mass, untargeted spying on ordinary, innocent people;
End mass spying now! Section 215 of the Patriot Act should not be used to collect every single Americans' calling records. And Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act shouldn't be used to "incidentally" or otherwise collect Americans' emails, phone calls, or chats. Protect the privacy rights of our digital communications.
Securing digital data, one computer at a time...
www.americansrighttoprivacy.com
[ link to this | view in thread ]
A quick recap of possible problems
Violating the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act regarding user privacy, that's federal law.
Violating payment card industry guidelines, so good luck having Visa or MasterCard accept your customer payments.
What about those nekkid selfies that kids (shouldn't but do) take? Now Andrei Shimanovich is transferring and storing underage photos (across state lines).
I haven't even gotten to the problems with transferring, storing and accessing information securely (which is hard, in the real world), along with authenticating and authorizing user access.
Yeah, he needs a better lawyer.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
some 16 year old is going to load "Happy Birthday" ringtone to play to her grandmother , and then ... well... you know. lots and lots of fines.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Surveillance on everyone we know?
> to do all this sweet, sweet surveillance on everyone we know.
Speak for yourself, Tim.
I'm pissed because I'm not allowed to do the surveillance on attractive people I do not know.
Stick to SIGINT and HUMINT all you want. LOVEINT is where it's at.
Will mSpy be addressing this particular market need? Maybe congress needs to mandate all young people's phones come pre-installed with mSpy? Would Congress do something like this? Probably.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
What could possibly go wrong?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
NSA APP
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Gone, apparently, are the days when parents could trust that their children's mistakes could all go away with a stern talking to and a sincere promise to the principal/patrol officer who brought the kid home that the kid has learnt a lesson. Now we get trumped up criminal charges in the name of Zero Tolerance.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
I'll sue!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
The person who is in violation of the law is the one giving the cell to the unwitting victim.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
"If you go out and buy a gun and go shoot someone, no one will go after the gun producer."
Really? I call bullcrap.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: John Fenderson
Also, even in the general case their argument falls apart because it neglects both manufacturer liability laws and federal/state/local laws regarding seller requirements (can't sell a gun to someone who declares they will use it in a crime, can't sell alcohol to someone who is visibly intoxicated, can't sell grow lights to someone who says they want it for wacky weed, etc.).
[ link to this | view in thread ]
It's hard to use the information though
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: John Fenderson
Huh? How is that relevant?
"their argument is not necessarily true in every case and patently false in others because they will be collecting, transmitting and hosting the data"
Simply collecting, transmitting, and hosting the data does not automatically make them liable. They'd have to know that a specific data set is illegal and do nothing about it to even begin to open the path to liability.
"it neglects both manufacturer liability laws and federal/state/local laws regarding seller requirements"
I believe you're just wrong here. Manufacturer liability laws wouldn't apply unless in the course of using the product as intended it caused unexpected harm due to the negligence of the manufacturer.
As to seller requirements, there are no federal ones for this kind of product. If there are state or local ones and they violate them, then they'll be sued over it -- but I'm not aware of any that they would be violating. I'm not sure why you list all the examples you do, every one of them has nothing to do with this.
The fact is that this is a legal product with legitimate, legal uses. It's hard to see how they could get into trouble about it unless they are encouraging or representing that product be used to break the law, or they are facilitating lawbreaking that is brought to their attention. This is as it should be.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re:
"My Spy (mSpy) is designed for monitoring your employees or underage children 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. "
There is more under the EULA (under Legal) attempting to pass liability & responsibility for understanding the law in their jurisdiction to the purchaser. I suppose it will end up in court somewhere.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: It's hard to use the information though
Yet another parallel to the NSA.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: A quick recap of possible problems
But we all know the only way this software would ever get shut down in the US is when the RIAA/MPAA notices that the spies are making unlicensed copies of any copyrighted works their victim may have accessed on their device.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: For my kids
In fact, if you really think something like this is so great, get just one, yours, and let your kids have access to the data it provides for a month or so, just so you know what it's like to have zero privacy regarding what you do with your phone. After all, for parents who think spying of this level is 'no big deal', they should have no problem proving it, by putting the microscope on themselves first.
On a side note, for parents who think something this invasive is a good idea, have fun never being trusted by your kids again once they find out what you've done, a spying program like this is like putting a camera in their room, and just as bad.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Re:
According to USLegal.com: "A person can violate such [wiretapping] statutes by... unlawfully advertise[ing], sell[ing] or possess[ing] an "electronic, mechanical or other device(s)" which, by its design renders it primarily useful for the surreptitious interception of electronic, oral or wire communications".
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: For my kids
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re:
I'll bet a fine dinner that it's equally detectable on Android devices, but I couldn't confirm it easily with my google-fu. If they didn't go out of their way to hide the process name on iPhones, they probably didn't do this on Android either.
It's very likely shows up in the Running Processes viewer, and almost certainly shows up if you open a console and execute the command "ps -ax". The only real question is -- did they name the process something that sounds innocuous? They didn't on the iPhone...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Nobody mentions....
Second, the article portrays the people doing the spying as primarily men. Are you serious? If it's not an equal amount, I'd wager that women would be more likely to buy this. It doesn't require an interest in software, or knowledge to install, just buy, give and reap the rewards. I think the phrase has something to do with someone being scandalous....
Third. If you are so untrusting that you feel the need to buy an expensive ass cell phone to catch your significant other cheating, there are way way more problems than what tech you are using to figure it out. Seek help or terminate without confirmation.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re:
Knowing it's there is handy, but unless someone's got a spare phone lying around they can use, it doesn't do them much good(even if it does indicate they need to take a hefty stick to the head of whoever 'gave' them their phone), unless they're able to completely stop using it without any serious repercussions.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Re:
However, the odds are good this app can be removed like any other once you know it's there. Again, just guessing, but looking over what mSpy says about their app, it doesn't look like it's particularly sophisticated about self-protection.
Generally speaking, I recommend that people use Android, root it, and run a firewall (I like DroidWall). This ensures that even if spyware finds its way onto your device, it can't actually talk to anything anyway. It also has a nice side-effect of blocking most in-app advertising.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Nobody mentions....
This wouldn't impact liability for giving the phone to someone else without them knowing it's being used to spy on them.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
The X-Files said it best
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: The X-Files said it best
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: seriously
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Wireless cameras
Medium power audio/video transmission kit, with direct video receiver and micro wide-angle camera. Ideal for covert operations.
The professional kit ENWO-T101/W is the perfect system to conduct video and audio surveillance monitoring of objects or people from the middle distance (up to 100 meters).
The particularity of this video surveillance system is the wireless micro camera with wide-angle lens, with an amplitude of 170 degrees, which guarantees the recovery of entire environments in real time with no loss of quality or focus.
The 2.4GHZ 50mW integrated transmitter allows easy concealment of the video transmission module within small objects, making the process very easy and fast. For this reason this fantastic kit for video surveillance is often preferred to other similar solutions.
The transmission kit, equipped with audio/video transmitter and DVR receiver, can be powered by battery or through electrical grid. The latter option, recommended in case of long time monitoring, can be obtained concealing the transmitter inside junction boxes or ravines directly interfaced with the electricity grid.
http://www.endoacustica.com/50mw-wide-angle-micro-camera-high-power-handheld-receiver.htm
[ link to this | view in thread ]
mobile spy
[ link to this | view in thread ]