Category Archives: Mobile Tracking

Who Even Pays Attention to App Permissions?

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That’s right, no one. We often regard the app permissions pop-up as another one of these simplified ‘terms and conditions’ pages that we always skip and rush to get to the ‘Ok, I accept’ part. Due to this, we are never aware of our so-called ‘contract’ with all the apps we use. They definitely have permissions just for the sake of having them. So, what are we missing by never paying attention to what parts of our devices our apps have access to? Well, instead of us being able to monitor our apps, they monitor us. It sounds like the plotline of a mystery murder story, but it’s our reality.

Apps Ask for Permissions for a Reason

Does an app like Facebook really need to be able to access your call information in order to provide you with a good user experience? Definitely not, but it’s a permission that they require to have from those downloading their app. So why is that? It’s not a necessary permission and yet they still ask for it. Of course, facebook isn’t the only one that asks for your privacy in exchange for being able to use their app. When confronted, Uber was the only one that commented. A spokesperson stated that users can turn off certain permissions in the app’s settings. Of the companies asked, only Uber explained why different types of data are collected from users. Others refused to comment, which means that they are definitely hiding something from users. And it doesn’t take an IT expert to realize that being able to connect and disconnect WiFi isn’t what Facebook was created for. Well-known apps aren’t the only ones that ask for an extensive list of permissions before you’re allowed to download them. Little known calculator or timer apps may ask for so many permissions that you’ll start to wonder if their main purpose is to take over your phone.

Why are App Permissions Necessary?

Originally, these were created so that users know what parts of their device apps need access to in order to be able to function properly. However, how would this explain flashlight apps that want access to your contacts and call information? These permissions would be justifiable if it was a calling app of sorts, but for a flashlight? It makes one suspect that the flashlights main purpose is to spy on you and maybe that is the case. Ideally, you should only download apps who ask for permissions that are related to their service provided. It would make perfect sense for Google Maps to ask to have access to your exact location since it helps them to tailor their services for you. Not so much for a game app. However, if you only download apps with permission requests that you can understand, you’ll miss out on all the current trends, like Facebook and Whatsapp.

Protect Yourself and Fight Back

Chances are, you’re going to keep doing what you normally do, even after learning about unnecessary permissions that numerous apps request. Reading and understanding app permissions and the terms of use seems like a useless waste of time for many people. You’ve been using apps for years and nothing bad has ever happened to you, so why should you change anything now? If that’s your case, then feel free to continue being a lab rat for companies that want to play around with the information you let them access. A smart thing to do would be to carefully read the permissions list for every app you download and use your common sense. A photo editing app may need to have access to your image gallery, but what about a calendar app? Then, if you see an app that requires too many unnecessary permissions, send them a message asking for an explanation and encourage others to do the same. If they get enough complaints, apps will be more likely to revise their permission lists if they want others to download their product. Act now and be the change instead of continuing letting your apps shamelessly make use of your private information. Another option would be to download a permission manager, so you know exactly what each app has access to, even if you didn’t bother to read the permission requirements. Apps such as the ‘permission manager’ also ask for permissions, but it’s all for a good cause. These apps will help you understand what risks you’re exposing yourself and your device to by granting certain unnecessary permissions to certain apps. Perhaps this will finally convince you to replace your permission-demanding apps with alternatives that don’t put you or your device at risk.

Has My Phone Been Hacked? Or Are These Just Glitches?

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We bet you’ve asked yourself these questions at least once. Haven’t you? We have, numerous times, and sometimes these are really just glitches interfering with the proper functioning of your smartphone. But sometimes there is some malware seeking out confidential information or a spy app … well, spying on you. How can you tell the difference? What are the threats? Most importantly, what can you do about it? Alright, let’s not panic, but, rather, figure it out step by step.

Potential Threats

Public Wi-Fi networks have been notoriously easy to hack. Public hotspots can be taken over, and you’ll be presented with a fake site prompting you to sign in with sensitive personal information.

Tip: If you see two very similar network names, alerts the network owner.
Tip: Always sign out after using public Wi-Fi.

Phishing is a very varied – and very successful – hacking tool. Involves hackers pretending to be a trusted company in order to obtain personal data. Often presents via suspicious e-mails.

Tip: never click on links from e-mails unless you’re absolutely sure that it’s legitimate.

Bluetooth attacks are getting increasingly widespread. All that’s needed is for the Bluetooth on your phone to be on – and the hacker can gain access to pretty much anything on your device.

Tip: always keep your Bluetooth off, unless you’ve a specific reason to turn it on.

Third-party software, especially downloaded from sources other than the official ones, like Apple AppStore and Google PlayMarket, should be subject to close scrutiny. Apple, being a closed-source operating system, is generally less prone to hacking attacks than Android, yet don’t give in to a feeling of false security.

Spy apps – these need to be directly installed on your device by someone who specifically wants to spy on your online activity, phone calls and chats, so think about whether there’s someone like that with access to your phone.

Warning signs

OK, with the threats outlined, let us proceed to the warning signs and see what should alert you in your phone’s behavior.

Temperature of the battery.
If you phone warms up unreasonably, regardless of the number of applications you’re running on it, it may be a warning sign that there is something going on behind the scenes.
Phone does not hold the charge.
Another warning sin is quick battery drainage. With regular use, you should know approximately how long your battery should hold, and when you notice spikes in power usage, scan your device just in case. If you’re a game addict, this may just mean that you’ve been playing too much.
Applications stop working abruptly. This may or may not be a warning sign, but in combination with other alerts it should make you consider the option that you’ve been hacked.
Echoes during voice calls. Whether on Skype, Viber, WhatsApp or regular phone calls, echoing sounds that are new to your ear are a sign that someone may be listening in on your conversations.
Delays in processes like shutdown or powering up, general sluggishness. These may mean that there is extra activity going on, which you are unaware of – i.e., spy apps going to sleep or waking up, or they may just be a glitch in either the software or hardware.
Charges for texts you haven’t sent.

Stay safe

How do you deal with these mounting threats? Well, there aren’t any sure-fire remedies, but you can do the following:

Run regular anti-virus scans
Run regular application monitoring scans and look for apps and processes that do not look familiar
Keep your eyes open for the warning signs we’ve described above
Install anti-spyware apps (from trusted sources, so as not to install spyware instead – that would be ironic and unfortunate, right?)

The Smartphone Story

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The smartphone is an amazing invention, and they are becoming an increasingly bigger part of our lives every day. Some of us remember the time when there were no smartphones at all, even in prospect, some don’t, but they’ve come a long way since the first cellphone call made by the Motorola inventor Martin Cooper to his rival. The device he used was a brick-sized, 2.5 lb. object with a 20-minute battery life. It took the mobile phones another 10 years to be granted FCC approval and go into the commercial market, still about as heavy and huge as the prototype.

It didn’t become common until the late 1990s, or, more precisely, 1999, when the first truly popular cell phone, the legendary Nokia 3210 was released, selling over 150 million devices all over the world. Then came the real mobile phone boom – in 2012 the number of mobile service subscriptions grew to 6 billion, which is the vast majority of the population of our planet.

iPhone brought the touchscreen technology to the mass market, then the devices have gotten sleeker, their screens – larger, and the batteries – more powerful. The number of applications available for business, everyday activities like shopping or banking, and just pure fun is beyond belief. So, what does the future hold for this device, which is beginning to take over so many functions that it will soon know us better than we know ourselves?

The future of the mobile phone

Let’s give our imagination a chance – along with the experts’ forecasts.

Power up

First of all, let’s discuss battery life, which is the major current limitation of any smartphone’s capabilities. Even though manufacturers are coming up with ways to increase battery capacity all the time, the extra apps that they simultaneously pack into the device eat up the increased capacity. This is supposed to change, as there are several crucial upgrades coming up in the foreseeable future. The currently researched options include lithium-oxygen batteries, motion charging, solar power (including solar clothing), recycling the energy wasted by a phone, self-healing batteries, supercapacitor batteries, etc.

Safer than ever

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What about security? Everyone is increasingly concerned with it, since the amount of personal data that our smartphones hold is incredible, and, should it end up in the wrong hands, it may become a real threat. Well, iPhone is planning to implement a Biometric capture for unauthorized user identification feature, which would capture fingerprints, or video, photo or audio footage when an attempt to steal the phone is made, and transmit it to company servers. Another security feature that will probably become standard on iPhones is the attack detection mode, and the attack it refers to is an actual real-life event, such as a car crash or a physical attack. The app will be able to detect a dangerous situation and automatically make a call to a preset number or a general emergency number.

Brain to phone

This is already the case, and the trend is likely to grow further – our smartphones are becoming the command headquarters for all other devices in our lives. Fitness trackers, health monitors, a vast range of smart home devices (security monitors, smoke detectors, thermostat controls, front door locks and even remote fish feeders) and much, much more can be controlled via your smartphone already. Banking and shopping, dating and working are all already linked to our smartphones. What the experts believe we are clearly moving towards are thought controlled-devices. Sounds like it’s straight out of science fiction, but, even though it’s not about to go mass-market tomorrow, it is likely to be implemented in the foreseeable future. There are already over 1000 people with prosthetic arms that are controlled via brain-computer interfaces, and while a smartphone is a device far more complex than a prosthetic limb, the technology is already there, it just needs to be improved and fine-tuned.

See more

A number of new materials is being developed for greater durability, screen resolution is coming up to a point where the difference is impossible to discern with human eye, but there are some other interesting screen-related developments, such as self-healing screens, as well as 3D and hologram displays.

If we consider the possibility of implanting a device into our body, which will be connected to our brain and, in turn, to a retinal display, it will allow to exchange information with other people in a truly telepathic manner. This is about as far as our imagination allows us to go today, but surely, there will be even more amazing developments, and we’re likely to see them in our lifetime.

Dangers of Smartphones

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Smartphone vulnerability is a notorious issue. There’s a plethora of potential problems just waiting to jump put at smartphone users and make their lives a lot more complicated. The amount of personal data that is available to hackers who manage to breach our phones is incredible to imagine – in the pre-smartphone era never has this much information about us been located in one spot, and making us susceptible to all kinds of risks.

Potential weak spots include insecure operating systems, questionable apps that mine personal data, hacking operations, malware, phishing, spy phone apps, identity theft, cybersquatting, and other, less common forms of cybercrime, which are emerging and evolving at a troubling rate.

Current issues

Apps infected with malware by unfriendly countries, such as Iran, have already been noticed in PlayMarket, AppStore and GitHub, posing an even greater threat, potentially targeting entire countries rather than just the phone owner, or even the company that they work for.
Cyber-surveillance apps, such as Mobogram, which calls itself the ‘best unofficial Telegram fork’ and many others like it, have already been called unsafe by Telegram creators, but are still spreading. This app is supposedly created and monitored by the Iranian governmental authorities, allowing to spy on its users. China is another potential suspect in installing unauthorized spying apps on smartphones, or any other apps, for that matter, considering the fact that an overwhelming majority of smartphones is produced in China.

Operating system comparison

As far as operating systems security goes, Android and Windows Phone rank lower than Apple or Blackberry. The most popular OS in the world with 80% of the market, Android has weak built-in guards against hacking and is targeted most often (as many as 98% of mobile banking attacks are directed at Android users). The reason for Android’s susceptibility is the lack of standardization in software, but a big plus is the chance to customize security settings and build a powerful security system, that is, if you possess the required skills. Windows Phone offers an unstable level of security. Apple offers strong out-of-the-box security, and keeps a tight watch over the apps offered in its AppStore. But it’s been penetrated, i.e. the major Pegasus security breach in August 2017, so it cannot be hailed as entirely secure. Blackberry is well-known for being the gold standard of security, with native data encryption and secure messaging. However, even Blackberry is prone to malware attacks to a certain extent. The bottom line is – no one is safe.

What’s next in smartphone security?

Passwords are known to be easily cracked, so where is the current smartphone security research leading us? One of most promising directions right now entails aspects of biometrics other than fingerprint, facial and iris detection, which are already extensively used. The combination of all three is the most secure, implemented in Galaxy S8 and S8+ phones. The next ones up are sweat analyzers and the straight out-of-science-fiction option which has not been implemented yet, but deserves a mention.

The latter is Neuralink, one of Elon Musk’s ventures, set up two years ago and aiming to directly link the human brain to the smartphone. In this case, unlocking the phone will entail placing it on the top of your head and thinking of some pre-set secret word. It’s hard to imagine this scenario being implemented at any time in the near future, but it’s a curious thought.

As for sweat analyzers, these are closer to reality. Although unique, thumbprints may be replicated, face scans can also be duped, but human secretions are a lot more difficult to fake. The unique combination of chemicals in human sweat may become the next security wall on the way to your personal data. The team at the University of Albany, led by Jan Halamek, thinks that their idea may be realized within 5 to 10 years, provided that manufacturers find it appealing and viable from both the technical and financial point of view.

All of the above are software-related solutions, but there is also research into hardware possibilities that would offer more solid control over the data stored on a smartphone. More precisely, hardware-isolated containers will secure the data, supplementing software encryption and entirely preventing access. Hopefully, security research stays on top of the situation, although it seems that the malicious app developers are always one step ahead, just due to the nature of this fascinating and dangerous game.

Passwords – True Guards or False Friends?

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One of the numerous issues with the increasingly more digitalized contemporary reality is the sense of false security that it so easily instills in people. We are lulled into feeling that our passwords are keeping our data safe, our bank accounts are linked to our e-mail, our phones unlock with our unique fingerprints, and so on.

We are not here to argue that the 21st century is a fantastic, breathtaking time to be alive – it is indeed, with all the diversity, amazing technology and freedom that it offers. But there’s a price tag on everything, including the convenience and ease of many everyday tasks that can be undertaken online (or in many cases can exclusively be conducted), and, in this case, the price are the digital threats, such as identity theft, the ever-increasing danger of privacy intrusion, cyber-bullying, personal information leaks, bank fraud and other numerous potential security breaches that may range from unpleasant to life-threatening.

Passwords are one of the chief security walls between a device or application user and the potential threats posed by hackers and malware, among other issues. Or are they? Are they merely a veil that creates a false sense of security?

Basic password rules

Well, certainly if a top-level hacker sets a goal to get into your e-mail, provided that you’re not a top-level hacker yourself, it’ll most likely be a matter of minutes, or hours at the most. However, since this is an unlikely case scenario, we’d say that passwords are a relatively reliable defense against an average break-in attempt. So it does make perfect sense to learn the basics of proper password creation, namely:

Random is better than predictable;
Complex is better than simple;
Long is better than short.

Avoid:

Reusing old passwords / Using the same password on different websites /Keyboard patterns / Doubling up the password to meet length requirements;
Two-step verification should be used where available.

And here’s another piece of advice that’s so obvious that it almost seems ridiculous – do not ever use the passwords like 123456 and password. These are the first to be cracked by the most amateur hackers, and denote your complete oblivion to the basic digital safety rules. Common pop-culture terms, numbers in their regular or reverse order, letmein, qwerty, iloveyou, admin, welcome, whatever and login top the “most popular passwords” lists for years on end – never mind the fact that in a perfectly sound digital world there should not be any such lists to begin with. According to one of the latest Splashdata compilations, the newest 2017 addition is, ironically, trustno1.

A password manager app is actually a great way to store passwords in a secure manner, and generate new ones if you’re all out of ideas.

How vulnerable are we?

As the number of our activities shifting to the digital zone is increasing with the speed of lightning, the number of threats that we encounter grows at approximately the same rate, so we need to be aware of how vulnerable we are and do whatever we can to become at least somewhat less vulnerable.

There is a lot of frightening information out in the open about hackers being able to crack up to 90% of 16-character strong passwords. This is possible primarily due to the relatively insecure cryptographic method called hashing, which is most commonly used. The passwords are ran through a one-way mathematical function, which creates a hash, or a unique string of numbers and letters. The hash can be then converted back into a plain text password.

The first stage of an attack usually cracks over 50% of the passwords, while the later attempts are increasingly more complicated, utilizing so-called Markov attacks, brute-force attacks and wordlist attacks, and reveal a smaller and smaller number of passwords. There isn’t much than a regular user can do about the way that a website treats their password. However, making sure that you’ve complied the relatively simple basic rules will indeed protect you from break-ins – at least to a certain extent.

Do Smartphones Know too Much about Us?

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Our smartphones hold so much information about practically all aspects of our lives – it’s scary to even start thinking about it. Contact phone numbers, photos, videos, location history, banking passwords, personal messages and e-mails – this is just the standard list, there is definitely more significant and intimate information on your device than you’re willing to share with anyone, let alone the criminals that may have stolen your phone.

There are numerous programs that can be installed on a smartphone, known as spy apps, which will grant you control over the phone and online activities of a troublesome teenager or an unscrupulous employee. They basically allow a similar degree of control over their electronic devices as a thief would have over yours in case of theft. Let’s assume you are not planning to take advantage of the information you find on a child’s or an employee’s phone and will only use it for their benefit in the former case, and for the benefit of your company – in the latter. There are still moral issues to be considered, but here, at least, there is no criminal activity involved.

The secret life of a stolen phone

What happens, though, when your phone with that wealth of personal information floats out into the ocean of distinctly criminal activity? Unpleasant, to say the least, but very disturbing and downright dangerous in the worst-case scenario. After his iPhone got stolen, Dutch filmmaker Anthony van der Meer decided to see what would happen to another phone, which he rigged especially for the theft by installation of Cerberus, an app that lets you be the guard of your own phone if it is stolen. The range of this app options is strikingly similar to spying apps – it allows to trace location history, take photographs and record video remotely, control the internet connection, phone calls and contact list updates. It also allows you to backup or wipe your data remotely, which certainly sounds useful. This anti-theft program basically allows you to spy on your own phone. With a little bit of extra work, which entailed installing the app in the system memory segment, instead of the user segment, van der Meer made sure that the program can survive a full phone wipe. He also made it run under the radar by changing the app name and making it more inconspicuous, as well as forbade automating updates or flashing.

Then he placed himself in a situation where he provoked the theft of the phone (it actually took four days of work, which is reason for optimism), and began his investigation, filming himself in the process and revealing some of his counterpart’s activities, but not his face. What he observed over the course of the next weeks was not particularly eventful, but that’s not quite the point of this real-time low-budget tech thriller. The point seems to be more in the exploration of the psychological relationship we have with our devices and the disturbing feeling we get when they are stolen, since they have grown to be practically parts of our selves. The film also explores the unusual one-sided relationship that the filmmaker began to form with the thief in possession of his phone. Strangely enough, issues of privacy emerged as van der Meer felt that he may be invading the privacy of the alleged thief. This is an issue that also arises with spying apps, which are not unambiguous from a moral standpoint.

Protect yourself!

The Find my Phone film is a curious exploration, but don’t just stop at watching it and musing on the concept. If you are genuinely concerned about the security of personal data that your phone contains, installing an anti-theft app is a very good idea – before it’s too late. Not many of us want to conduct as thorough an investigation as van der Meer did, most of us just want to be protected from identity theft, people meddling in our private stuff and banking accounts and other types of unpleasant activity that may ensue.

Technology and Personal Relationships

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The unstoppable, relentless technological progress is upon us. To a different extent, we are all used to being serviced by various gadgets and apps, not to say addicted. Would an average city dweller from a developed country be able to survive the loss of this digital structure that holds a person afloat in today’s world? It’s a serious question, with most arguments probably against this probability. Even the realm of human feelings has been getting progressively infiltrated by technology. Tinder and Grindr allow to quickly swipe through mostly short-term encounters, and phone tracking/monitoring apps are there to keep your significant other in check – if that’s your idea of a close relationship.

One of the ways people may depend on tech innovations is the alluring ability to track their loved ones’ activities on their mobile phones. The question is as old as the world itself, or at least as the concept of faithfulness – is he (or she) dishonest with me? Is there someone else? There are a number of ways to go about it – first and foremost, if there is a disruption of trust between two people, whether stemming from past events, or born in the mind of the beholder, the best way to deal with them is communication. A relationship is all about communication, and when sincere interaction stalls, the basis of a relationship is threatened in the most serious manner.

Options for the Curious and the Desperate

If you make a decision to go ahead and track someone’s phone, technically there are several types of options:

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Phone tracking apps, such as the customized and affordable mSpy, Highster Mobile and FlexiSpy that need to be installed on a person’s phone, and then go undercover, allowing you to see what he or she is doing. SMS, phone calls, messaging apps and browser history will all be at your fingertips – but please be clear about the fact that in most jurisdictions this is an illegal way to resolve your relationship issues – or any other issues for that matter, with the exception of tracking an underage child’s mobile phone.
The consensually installed partner apps, such as CoupleTracker and mCouple offer approximately the same degree of access to another’s life to both partners. They come with both advantages and disadvantages in comparison to the covert phone trackers. On one hand, they are undoubtedly more ethical and simply legal, on the other – they are a lot less efficient in attaining their objectives. Aware of the software installed, the person being tracked is more likely to abstain from questionable behavior or just find ways to circumvent it.

Traditional spying equipment – hidden cameras, microphones, following someone in a rented car in disguise – the flat-out paranoid ways that we’ve all seen in the movies.

Useful or Destructive? The Decision Is Yours

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Is trying to track your significant other’s activities the best way to go about restoring trust? Doesn’t seem that positive a method, on the other hand, it may lead to an even greater loss of trust. A wise approach to such an issue entails, first of all, the ability to consciously approach the very need to know more about your partner – more than you can ask him or her about openly. Will you be able to process this information? If you are sure that you can – put your best effort into open communication first, and if that doesn’t work – well, do you think that tracking your partner will actually improve your relationship? Is spying on someone conducive to building or rebuilding trust? Or will it, should you find something incriminating, only prove as grounds for more bitterness and further degradation of the partnership?

Personal or couple therapy is definitely a more promising means to deal with trust issues if direct communication is difficult. However, if you are still absolutely convinced that you need to know the facts at any price, the phone monitoring apps, such as mSpy, Highster Mobile and FlexiSpy are far more effective in obtaining information than their counterparts.

To BYOD or not to BYOD – that Is the Question

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Bring Your Own Device to work is the trend of the recent years that’s been spreading all over the world. What exactly is it? The answer is very simple – it’s one of the consequences of consumerization of IT, when companies allow and encourage their employees to bring their own electronic devices to their workplaces and use them for work purposes.

With the introduction and spread of BYOD, a major overhaul of the very concept of corporate IT infrastructure was launched. It’s only logical that as the devices generally grow more powerful and versatile, there’s no reason not to acknowledge and take advantage of this fact. Using one device for all purposes, both personal and professional, should allow for more seamless integration, on one hand, but is doesn’t come without very specific detrimental effects.

Advantages and drawbacks

Let’s take a closer look at the challenges and benefits BYOD affords the company that begins to realize this strategy. BYOD is generally treated by technology experts as providing more advantages than problems – when properly implemented, of course.

What are the positive factors?

For the company, the instant benefits are in the reduced costs due to the absence of the need to purchase and maintain an extensive IT infrastructure, greater productivity due to the convenience of familiar devices, and generally greater employee satisfaction.

The spread of BYOD is somewhat limited by companies’ hesitations to implement it in their particular firm for security reasons. Such caution is explained by the perfectly understandable fear of information leaks. However, the latter is not necessarily a BYOD-related problem. Access to sensitive information of all kinds has always been an issue, and the onset of the computer era may have only exacerbated it somewhat. Pen and paper also served the purposes of industrial espionage perfectly well, as did CDs, flash drives, e-mail and other data transmission methods in the earlier years. In addition, people have been bringing their own devices to work for a long time, the only change that BYOD company policies may bring is the company’s acknowledgement of the situation.

Is BYOD more of a risk or an advantage? Well, NOT implementing some sort of BYOD policy will not make the issue go away, since such ignorance may pose a far greater exposure to various threats. For one, we all need to accept that BYOD is already here, and outline our company approach.

Regulatory policies for BYOD implementation

If you’ve decided that BYOD is a useful solution in case of your company, you should plan out its implementation thoroughly. There’s no reason to abandon corporate standards at once and give in to anarchy where everyone has access to everything. Just as with any technology, there are measures to be taken in order to regulate and contain the potential problems it may bring – at least to some extent. What are they?

Instructing employees of their new responsibilities and new risks;
Achieving an understanding in regard to specific requirements for the operating system, work-related applications and antivirus software that should be installed on all employee devices;
Determining policies regarding remote access and data security;
Outlining data access levels;
Establishing a procedure for securing data in case of employee termination, device loss or theft, etc.;
Regulating passcode protection and data encryption;
Considering mobile employee monitoring solutions.

BYOD and mobile monitoring

Let’s discuss the last option in more detail. There are numerous software solutions, such as mSpy, Highster Mobile and FlexiSpy, that allow employers to monitor their employees’ activities on their devices. According to the laws of most countries, adults have to be mandatorily informed when a mobile monitoring app is installed on their phones even if the phone is provided by the company. Once installed, there’s no need for any contact with the target phone, while practically anything a person does on the phone is readily available for review. The program features usually include call, e-mail, instant message and SMS monitoring, internet use and location tracking. It may be a bit extreme, but, in some cases, it’s preferable to compromising your company’s sensitive information. BYOD is a part of today’s reality already, and it is high time to figure out how to deal with it.

Mobile Spy Apps – the Present and the Future

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We’re living in a world where our actions, location, purchases, browser history, and all kinds of personal information are becoming more and more public domain. State authorities have access to most of our footprints, which are growing more and more digital every day. Advertisers and big data tech companies are deeply curious about our consumer habits. Our loved ones may also want more access, some theoretically, some more aggressively, interfering with our personal space.

Phone tracking, mobile spying, parental control software – all these are synonymous, and basically allow a user to gain information about his or her counterparty without his or her consent. The only case in which such actions are legally appropriate in most countries is that of underage children, and even with employees’ company phones, people have to be forewarned that there’s a possibility of their phones being monitored. Even though there are situations when resorting to such apps is understandable, you do need to remember that the legal requirements in your country are probably against it.

Phone tracking is a growing industry, since the desire to monitor your teen’s activities in the dangerous world out there or make sure your employees are acting properly is not decreasing. It gives a person a sense of control, although, we must admit, produces constructive results in only a small number of cases. Interpersonal communication is a far more efficient tool in achieving harmony in a relationship.

What’s new on the market?

What’s new in the fledgling industry? Actually, 2017 was not marked by any breakthrough discoveries, rather, the already existing popular apps and new releases that are similar to them fine-tuned their software, made it more compatible with various operating systems and more efficient, and added new features.

The phone monitoring industry leaders are still the same, namely,

mSpy
FlexiSpy
Highster Mobile

The smaller and weaker players have been mostly pushed to the margins, while these three are splitting the greatest portion of the market between themselves. No new players emerged, at least none that can rival the leading apps in features and price/quality ratio, or offer something exclusive as far as the technological possibilities are concerned.

Most of these apps offer a similar set of features, including text message, call, e-mail and social network monitoring, GPS locators, media access, browser access, etc., in different combinations. The prices range significantly, so make sure you study the set of features offered and select one that’s most appropriate to your situation. Another thing to keep in mind is that some of the app only require a fee for downloading it, while with others it takes a recurrent monthly payment to keep the program running.

Ambiguous future of the phone monitoring industry segment

It would seem fair to say that the mobile monitoring spyware market has been predominantly shaped for now, and is unlikely to undergo any radical changes any time soon – until the technology takes another leap forward, of course, and then we’ll be in for another round of new features and breakthrough opportunities. Do people need more technologically advanced opportunities for monitoring each other even closer? Well, it’ll definitely be tempting to many, but regardless of whether we consider it a positive development, it’s an almost certain one. Just like the fact that people will always worry for their young and feel pangs of jealousy, leading some to take the step and consider installing a phone monitoring app on someone’s phone.

Mobile Tracking Apps – Make a Careful Choice

There are many various companies that offer their mobile tracking products; however, there is always a question which ones are reliable and worth paying for. The choice is pretty great but to make a good one is not an easy task at all.

First thing before making any purchases is to do a research on the subject and read a lot of information. The company’s general image as well as its background and customer feedbacks can tell a lot about the choice you are about to make.

Website

One of the first things to pay attention to is a company’s website. It should be easily accessed and have a contact page as well as pages with terms and conditions and privacy policy. It is always a good sign when a company’s physical address is disclosed and there are several ways to get in touch with them.

The other thing is general information that a site contains. It is supposed to be relevant and up-to-date as well as easily comprehensible and not quite eloquently SEO-related, though, it is hard to make a company that does not promote itself in any possible way – the good one doesn’t do it so that it could be easily seen, in other words, professionally.

Stay away from the sites that have no contacts and have only few unconvincing pages as they are most likely to be scam.

Payment Process

The next things to pay very close attention to is the process of payment. Package and payment structures look pretty similar in most large companies. The difference is usually in the monthly/yearly options and the subscription’s limitations.

One lifetime payments are something to be very skeptical about – it is hard to believe that for the price of one subscription you are likely to get the same service of the same quality for the rest of your life.

Cancellation and Stuff

Cancellation policy can also be something to read very carefully – especially the fine print. If everything is clear, then, there is a good company in front of you; if there is something you do not quite get and the company’s replies are not very convincing or downright elusive, better stay away from it.

Guarantees for the product you download differ from the ones for a product you actually buy in a store. However, consumer rights are the same everywhere. In this respect it is quite important to read refund policy and all the fine print with it as attentively as it is possible – saves you from very unpleasant consequences.

Support

Support page should also be checked before you start dealing with the company in question. It has been aforementioned that contacts are essential, but support page is the place where you will be able to get help when there is any issue with the product you buy from a company. That’s why it makes sense to check whether LiveChat actually works as well as e-mail and phone is answered in appropriate manner.

Here are very simple basic tips on the account of a company choice. Yet another way to make sure the company is good is to read customer feedback – they do help creating a very clear image of the company and its operations.