United States’ consumer watchdog, the Federal Trade Commission, has banned SpyFone from the surveillance business because of allegations its stalkerware app secretly harvested and shared data on people’s physical movements, phone use, and online activities through a hidden device.
“The illegal secret surveillance provided by the apps made it easy for stalkers and abusers to monitor their potential targets and steal sensitive information about their physical movements, phone use and online activities,” the FTC said.
It alleged SpyFone provided instructions on how to hide the app so the phone’s user was unaware the device was being monitored.
In addition to imposing the surveillance-business ban, the FTC ordered SpyFone to delete the illegally harvested information and notify device owners that the app had been secretly installed. The regulator also banned Scott Zuckerman, CEO of SpyFone’s parent company Support King, from the surveillance business.
SpyFone markets its app as a tool to watch over one’s family or loved ones.
