The creator of mobile spy app StealthGenie has been indicted in Virginia for selling the “spyware” application that could eavesdrop and intercept communications from other mobile devices. The court said that StealthGenie’s abilities were only legal for law enforcement agencies to use making the app illegal and a violation of privacy. While the app was advertised to be used to catch cheating spouses it could also be used by potential stalkers, child abusers and other nefarious individuals.
“Selling spyware is not just reprehensible, it’s a crime,” Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, said Monday in the news release. “Apps like StealthGenie are expressly designed for use by stalkers and domestic abusers who want to know every detail of a victim’s personal life — all without the victim’s knowledge. The Criminal Division is committed to cracking down on those who seek to profit from technology designed and used to commit brazen invasions of individual privacy.”
“The fact that it’s running in surreptitious mode is what makes it so foul,” said Cindy Southworth of the National Network to End Domestic Violence. “They work really hard to make it totally secretive.”
Hammad Akbar, the creator of the app, was arrested in Los Angeles and indicted in Virginia. We’ll keep our ears open for more updates in the case. In the meantime what do you think of StealthGenie? Was this a good call by the courts? Let us know in the comments below or on social media.
[button link=”http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/make-of-app-used-for-spying-indicted-in-virginia/2014/09/29/816b45b8-4805-11e4-a046-120a8a855cca_story.html” icon=”fa-external-link” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Source: The Washington Post[/button]Last Updated on November 27, 2018.
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