• Email Us: [email protected]
  • Contact Us: +1 718 874 1545
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Medical Market Report

  • Home
  • All Reports
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

FTC bans spyware maker SpyFone, and orders it to notify hacked victims

September 2, 2021 by David Barret Leave a Comment

The Federal Trade Commission has unanimously voted to ban the spyware maker SpyFone and its chief executive Scott Zuckerman from the surveillance industry, the first order of its kind, after the agency accused the company of harvesting mobile data on thousands of people and leaving it on the open internet.

The agency said SpyFone “secretly harvested and shared data on people’s physical movements, phone use, and online activities through a hidden device hack,” allowing the spyware purchaser to “see the device’s live location and view the device user’s emails and video chats.”

SpyFone is one of many so-called “stalkerware” apps that are marketed under the guise of parental control but are often used by spouses to spy on their partners. The spyware works by being surreptitiously installed on someone’s phone, often without their permission, to steal their messages, photos, web browsing history, and real-time location data. The FTC also charged that the spyware maker exposed victims to additional security risks because the spyware runs at the “root” level of the phone, which allows the spyware to access off-limits parts of the device’s operating system. A premium version of the app included a keylogger and “live screen viewing,” the FTC says.

But the FTC said that SpyFone’s “lack of basic security” exposed those victims’ data, because of an unsecured Amazon cloud storage server that was spilling the data its spyware was collecting from more than 2,000 victims’ phones. SpyFone said it partnered with a cybersecurity firm and law enforcement to investigate, but the FTC says it never did.

Practically, the ban means SpyFone and its CEO Zuckerman are banned from “offering, promoting, selling, or advertising any surveillance app, service, or business,” making it harder for the company to operate. But FTC Commissioner Rohit Chopra said in a separate statement that stalkerware makers should also face criminal sanctions under U.S. computer hacking and wiretap laws.

The FTC has also ordered the company to delete all the data it “illegally” collected, and, also for the first time, notify victims that the app had been secretly installed on their devices.

In a statement, the FTC’s consumer protection chief Samuel Levine said: “This case is an important reminder that surveillance-based businesses pose a significant threat to our safety and security.”

The EFF, which launched the Coalition Against Stalkerware two years ago, a coalition of companies that detects, combats and raises awareness of stalkerware, praised the FTC’s order. “With the FTC now turning its focus to this industry, victims of stalkerware can begin to find solace in the fact that regulators are beginning to take their concerns seriously,” said EFF’s Eva Galperin and Bill Budington in a blog post.

This is the FTC’s second order against a stalkerware maker. In 2019, the FTC settled with Retina-X after the company was hacked several times and eventually shut down.

Over the years, several other stalkerware makers were either hacked or inadvertently exposed their own systems, including mSpy, Mobistealth, and Flexispy. Another stalkerware maker, ClevGuard, left thousands of hacked victims’ phone data on an exposed cloud server.

Read more:

  • A ‘stalkerware’ app leaked phone data from thousands of victims
  • How to identify and remove KidsGuard ‘stalkerware’ from your phone
  • ‘Stalkerware’ phone spying apps have escaped Google’s ad ban
  • A powerful spyware app now targets iPhone owners
  • A domestic violence prevention app exposed distress recordings
  • U.S. privacy and civil rights groups urge ban on ‘surveillance advertising’

If you or someone you know needs help, the National Domestic Violence Hotline (1-800-799-7233) provides 24/7 free, confidential support to victims of domestic abuse and violence. If you are in an emergency situation, call 911.

Did you receive a notification and want to tell your story? You can contact this reporter on Signal and WhatsApp at +1 646-755-8849 or [email protected] by email.

Source Link FTC bans spyware maker SpyFone, and orders it to notify hacked victims

David Barret
David Barret

Related posts:

  1. Tajikistan can’t afford to take in Afghan refugees without help -police chief
  2. Tennis – Azarenka calls for mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations
  3. Russia threatens to fine Apple, Google unless they remove Navalny app, Ifax reports
  4. Polish president imposes state of emergency on Belarus border

Filed Under: News

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

  • Look Alert: The Most Active Volcano In the Pacific Northwest Is Probably About To Blow, Maybe
  • Should We Be Using Microwaves?
  • What Is The Largest Deer On Earth?
  • World’s First CRISPR-Edited Spider Produces Glowing Red Silk From Its Spinneret
  • First Ever Image Of “Free Floating” Atoms, The Nocebo Effect Beats The Placebo Effect When It Comes To Pain, And Much More This Week
  • 165-Million-Year-Old Fossil Is New Species Of Ancient Parasite. Did It Come From A Dinosaur’s Butt?
  • It’s True: Time Really Does Move Slower When You’re Exercising
  • Salmon Make Some Of The Most Epic Migrations In Nature. Why Do They Bother?
  • The Catholic Apostolic Church In Albury Has Been Sealed “Until The Second Coming”
  • The Voynich Manuscript Appears To Follow Zipf’s Law. Could It Be A Real Language?
  • When Will All Life On Earth Die Out? Here’s What The Data Says
  • One Of The World’s Rarest And Most Endangered Mammals Is *Checks Notes* A Unicorn
  • Neanderthals Used World’s Oldest Wooden Spears To Hunt Horses 200,000 Years Ago
  • Striking Results Show Neanderthal Crafters Were Sharper Than We Thought
  • Pioneering Research Reveals How Darkness And Light Made The Parthenon Appear Divine
  • Peculiar Material Revealed To Have Hidden Quantum State That Can’t Be Flipped In A Mirror
  • Extremely Rare Belalanda Chameleon Found Living 5 Kilometers Outside Its Very Small Range
  • Frogs Are So Vulnerable, How Did They Survive When T. Rex Didn’t?
  • Florida Man Gets Too Close To Bison In Yellowstone, Promptly Finds Out Why This Is A Bad Idea
  • Is A Bone A Worthy Weapon When Fighting The Rancor? What About A T. Rex?
  • Business
  • Health
  • News
  • Science
  • Technology
  • +1 718 874 1545
  • +91 78878 22626
  • [email protected]
Office Address
Prudour Pvt. Ltd. 420 Lexington Avenue Suite 300 New York City, NY 10170.

Powered by Prudour Network

Copyrights © 2025 · Medical Market Report. All Rights Reserved.

Go to mobile version