Cell phone monitoring apps are becoming a cult of the modern era; for the fact they are providing people with a cheap solution to satisfy their fanaticism of sneaking into other people’s private affairs. These apps are easily available online for a minimal subscription fee in many cases. And for another fact, anyone can download these apps from anywhere in the world, if that particular monitoring service allows so.
Is there any data available on the global use of cell phone monitoring apps?
Currently, there are no data available on the use of mobile monitoring applications, but a quick Google or Bing search could tell you of the intensity of proliferation of these apps. No matter what query you search, any keyword related to monitoring, spying, or tracking, returns the results for such apps.
If you look a bit deeper, most of these apps are developed in the U.S., giving the impression that Americans are obsessed with snitching others’ phone data. But it’s not just the U.S. that’s hanging on to spying; India, Philippines, and many other Asian countries are involved in the development of monitoring apps.
What do the different countries’ surveillance laws say about the use of monitoring apps?
Almost every country has built its surveillance laws on the same rule: “no monitoring without consent.” In Australia, the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 has declared it an offence for a person to intercept the private telecommunications of others without their legal consent. However, this precondition changes for the corporate sector where employers have the freedom to monitor emails, computer resources, the internet and even the company-provided gadgets like phones or tablets without the prior consent of the employees. The exact same goes for the American workplace surveillance laws.
The European and the Asian countries also have the same rule of no nonconsensual monitoring.
The loophole
Almost every country wants to protect the privacy of its residents, apparently. However, a legal consent is not just enough to protect user privacy. The current laws allow sneaking partners, parents or business owners to get away without facing any consequences of spying if their offence was not reported. And if you didn’t know, most of these cell phone monitoring apps work in stealth mode, too, giving ample opportunities for spying, while only carrying the tag of “monitoring apps.”
Yes, it’s legal to download cell phone monitoring apps in Australia
It’s also not illegal to subscribe to a cell phone monitoring service if you are residing in Australia and it’s not even illegal to use one if, obviously, you take the consent of the person. Popular spy apps like Xnspy, TrackMyFone, etc. only charge a few dollars, and in return, give you every teeny detail on your child, lover, or employee.
These apps are capable of more than one can imagine:
Xnspy is America’s most-downloaded spyware. What this app can do is disturbingly impressive. Even though Xnspy is a monitoring app, but still, it has the tendency to be used a spyware. The application costs $8 for its basic and $12 for the advanced version.
With Xnspy on a phone, the following can be accessed or done and that too remotely via the app’s online control panel.
- Monitor any kind of text, email or media. This includes any text message sent or received, all instant messages from popular social media apps, emails, or any shared or received multimedia that’s stored on a device installed with Xnspy.
- Monitor live location of a person and even view location history along with time, date, and address stamps.
- Record and listen to phone calls.
- Remotely lock a phone.
- Take a screenshot, remotely
- Wipe the monitored phone’s data, and that, too, remotely.
There’s so much more that’s not discussed here; in fact, let’s not discuss that because that would scare off the people reading this. But let’s just say that if you don’t trust people around you, you better have a good device security like fingerprint scanning, Face ID or a strong passcode set up on your personal devices.
Cell phone monitoring apps in Australia – the silver lining
Let’s not forget that cell phone monitoring apps are meant to serve the purpose of surveillance. If the people start taking consent before the use of these applications, it could really mean a safer digital environment all around. Our offices would be free from bullying, productivity shortfalls, or even digital theft. Our home, where we live with our kids, would be a much safer place for them to enjoy screen time without the fear of being abused or harassed online.
