The Rise of Stalkerware

Domestic abuse is, arguably, something that has always been there. The topic has risen to active public discussion in recent years, with major news organizations such as the BBC publishing harrowing stories of domestic abuse and violence multiple times every week. The problem has been officially acknowledged, but that doesn’t mean it would be going away anytime soon. On the contrary, modern technology, especially various applications utilizing the easily available social and location data, are making the problem even harder to tackle by adding a cunning, psychological edge to the already disgusting phenomenon.

The internet is full of harmful software, also known as malware. A common form of malware is something known as spyware, which, as its name implies, is designed to spy on users on whose computer it is installed. Spyware can gather any kind of sensitive information it is programmed to gather, and often relays it to third parties, such as advertisers or even criminal actors. A subcategory of spyware, software used specifically to monitor the everyday actions of people, is called stalkerware (sometimes stalkware or spouseware). Stalkerware is a very new phenomenon, with virtually no searches in Google before the current year. It originates from parental control software, but differs in a very fundamental manner: while parental control apps aim to restrict the use of the device to keep children safe, stalkerware aims to provide the perpetrator with a range of intimate information about the victim, such as location, social media usage, private discussions and so on.

In most western countries spying on one’s partner (or any other people) in such a manner is illegal. To circumvent this, companies selling stalkerware simply brand their product as sophisticated monitoring software that improves the security of the devices onto which it is installed, and often categorize it as parental control or employee monitoring product. Such companies also add disclaimers to their terms of use that prohibit any illegal, namely spying, use of their software.

Stalkerware has brought psychological domestic abuse to an entirely new level. Knowing the amount of time each one of us spends in the addicting world of smartphones every day, it isn’t difficult to imagine how much information we leak to someone with an all-access to our phone. Every conversation, social media reaction, location history and what-not is sent to the perpetrator at a chosen interval, like a daily report for example.

Bringing intimate information to an already abusive relationship is psychological torture. As an example, from a BBC article on the topic: “He would drop snippets into conversations, such as knowing about Sarah’s baby. Really private things that he shouldn’t have known about. If I asked how he knew these things, he’d say I’d told him and accuse me of losing it. Sometimes he would say he saw me at a cafe where I was meeting my friends and say he was just passing by chance. I started to question everything and trust no-one, even my friends.” Because the problem is so new, it hasn’t been studied yet. However, paranoia on the victim’s part is one of the many symptoms, as the victim isn’t able to trust anyone. Not only the relationship will be ruined, but also any friendships the victim likely has. Additionally, victims often develop severe mistrust of technology as a result of being spied through their devices. One can imagine what kind of practical problems that may raise with any technology later on in their lives, be it at work, home or elsewhere.

As our cell phones near the capabilities of lower end computers, such software is only likely to grow more common. Many security companies have improved their spyware detection to match this newest blight, and having one’s phone equipped with a proper cyber-security product is the best way to protect oneself against stalkerware, spyware or any malware in general. It is definitely recommended to have one installed.

Sources:
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-50166147
https://securelist.com/the-state-of-stalkerware-in-2019/93634/