Smartphone spyware is here to stay, whether people like it or not. Even though there was, in fact, some kerfuffle over privacy issues, many still argue that many measures like it has some uses. To some, it’s a way to augment the abilities of phone service providers to help users stay appraised of a situation – mothers can make sure their kids are okay, law enforcement officials and the like can track victims or suspects, and individuals can find their lost phones.
This isn’t to say that there isn’t a dark side to smartphone spy software use. Jealous or controlling romantic partners can leverage such programs that help them stalk their significant others. Bosses or employers can secretly use them in misguided attempts to manage workers more effectively. And no matter what the purpose of spying is, there is one other thing that makes this particular software type threatening – the fact that, no matter what, it STILL infringes privacy.
Given that there are some major pros and cons to spy app use, we need to establish some measures that will respect both the need to have the right information and one’s right to privacy. Here are some ideas:
Transparency policies on the part of the “spies”
This should be par for course, but it’s amazing how many agencies and individuals choose to not inform people that they’re being spied on. While it is true that telling a person about the monitoring software on their smartphones may seem like defeating the whole purpose of spying, we still have to consider the backlash one can get when the subject of surveillance finds out.
It’s especially important for individuals or private agencies to implement this – employers and parents should be upfront about the spy applications installed in smartphones. We should also all be clear on the purpose of the surveillance and the parameters involved.
Vigilance on the part of the smartphone owners
For those who are really uncomfortable with the idea of being spied on, the solution is to simply find ways to detect and avoid smartphone spyware. A Forbes article last month discusses how one can learn whether or not his phone has become a victim of spy software. Less technical approaches include observing the device’s behavior and battery life (if the phone behavior seems strange or you lose power quickly, you probably have it), as well as your data usage report. Once we have confirmed the spy app, we can perform a factory reset.
Even if we don’t find spy software, we still need to be vigilant – we need to make sure that our smartphones are with us at all times, we need to assign complex passwords to our phones, and we need to limit its network access if possible. Most importantly, we need to get anti-spy software from a REPUTABLE SOURCE.
Legislation concerning the capacity and use of spyware
As was mentioned before, there are people who use smartphone spy applications with malicious intent. As such, we need some very clear legislation with regard to what phone-based spy software should be allowed to do, and which entities can use them. Despite the fact that some places have made spy app use illegal, there is still the matter of its usefulness in the context of criminal surveillance and rescue operations. The only way to resolve this is to…
- Require a license for high-level spy software use (only law enforcement and other sanctioned organizations can use software that listen in on calls, etc.)
- Limit the abilities of commercially available spy software (private citizens will only be able to track the phone’s whereabouts, not the activity of the user)
To our knowledge, we currently only have blanket legislation governing spyware restrictions. But should these be implemented, more people can be less paranoid about being monitored by unsavory folk.
Source : techtalkafrica[dot]com
No comments:
Post a Comment