Yes

by John Jackson

Created on: June 14, 2011   Last Updated: December 21, 2011

Up until recently, cell phone spying meant examining your spouse's text messages whenever they were taking a shower; a practice shockingly prevalent in both males and females. But lately it has developed into a major business, with lots of providers currently offering software to assist people in spying on mobile phones. And it isn't just text messages which might be targeted; call logs, images, video clips, emails and even voice calls can all be monitored and tracked. So who's using this sort of software? And is it lawful? To discover the answer, we first need to know exactly what we mean by cell phone spying.

• What is cell phone spying?

Cell phone spying is the observation of cellular phone activity by someone other than the phone's normal user. Using the term 'spying' means that the monitoring of the cellphone is usually furtive or perhaps secret and that the cellphone's user doesn't know they are being observed. This may well be the case, but the exact same tools used for covert spying may also be frequently used with the complete awareness and also agreement of the individual. This is typically true in business scenarios where employers monitor the use of cellphones by their own staff.

• Can cell phone spying ever be legitimate?

It would appear obvious that the use of cellular phone spying software by consent is likely to be legal in most nations. Almost all large companies have a staff monitoring policy which pertains to web and email use and increasingly this is being expanded to cell phone use. Staff generally accept these kind of policies as a part of their employment stipulations and this enables some companies to legally install spying software on business owned cell phones. The identical rule also applies to moms and dads who keep an eye on their kid's cellular phone usage.

What about stealthy or covert installation of cell phone monitoring tools? Would it be legal to monitor cellphones when the owner is unaware they are being watched? That is a tough question of law and the response varies from area to area. Almost all nations have laws allowing undercover surveillance and covert investigation by police officers. A number of nations also permit covert investigation by individuals involved in crime investigation – including private investigators and also company security professionals.

• Cellphone spy tools – use responsibly!

It must be apparent by now that cell phone spying tools do have legal purposes. Companies, mothers and fathers, police forces as well as security professionals are all legitimate clients of the cellphone monitoring marketplace. That's the reason cell phone monitoring providers can advertise and market their products lawfully online. It's up to the individual to understand regulations in their own country and to ensure that they work with these kinds of tools lawfully and responsibly.

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