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When is it okay to spy on someone? It’s a tough ethical question, and recent technology developments have made it even tougher. I don’t have all the answers, so it is with caution that I mention Mobile Spy. As the name implies, it provides tracking services for many devices, and that now includes BlackBerry. If you have suspicions that someone close to you is acting inappropriately, you can install the software on his or her phone. It will reveal just about everything except recordings of voice calls. The question, of course, is of when this an acceptable action and when it is represents an ethical violation.
So on whom is it acceptable to spy, and on whom is it not? The first issue is of handset ownership. If you don’t own the handset, then you have no right to install software on it. I’m sure people will use this to monitor the activity of a suspected cheating spouse, but that doesn’t make it right. In fact, in Mobile Spy’s T&C, they expressly mention that it is only legal to use the software if you own the handset on which it is installed.
So who does this leave you? Dependent children and employees, mostly. Employers can monitor employee communications to make sure they’re 1) staying within company usage policy and 2) not handing out company information. This could be especially bad for someone trying to find a new job. If the company uses Mobile Spy, they could easily put two and two together when they see routine calls to a competitor.
Mobile Spy provides the following information about the phone on which it is installed:
- Call logs. This includes incoming and outgoing calls. Mobile Spy records the phone numbers, durations of calls, and time stamps.
- Text messages. Even if the user deletes a text message immediately upon sending or receiving, Mobile Spy records the sender and recipient, the time, and the content of the message.
- GPS location. If the phone has a GPS unit, Mobile Spy will log location every 30 minutes.
The application is free when you sign up for a service plan. It costs $49.97 for three months, $69.97 for six months, and $99.97 for a year. You can find out more at Mobile Spy’s BlackBerry page. There are also links there with more legal information. I can see how this application is useful — very much so — but I cannot emphasize the ethical issues enough. Thankfully, Mobile Spy answers far more questions than I can.
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5 Comments ↓
This app sounds similar to BlackTrack. It is available here: http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/2183
BlackTrack claims there is no server involved (other than the email servers your report might transit of course) and all “processing” takes place on the BlackBerry itself. It is promoted as a method to track activity for billing purposes (such as a lawyer or accountant might need) and is stated to be 100% free.
To my mind, the ethical issues are clear: covert tracking of someone without their permission is immoral and should be illegal. Only the police and similar agencies should be allowed to do this, having shown a need for it.
If an employer wishes to keep track of employees, he should be upfront about it and tell them the phone is bugged. Better still, the software on the phone should be visible and impossible to hide. Employees will then know to use their own phones for private business (which they should do in any case).
If someone stoops to checking on a spouse or partner in this way, then the relationship is doomed anyway because a negative result will never prove innocence, just that guilt has not yet been established. The person setting up the check has already decided that the victim is guilty.
Firms selling products like this are not amoral (”it depends how you use the equipment”); they are immoral. They are happy to foster suspicion and deceit for the purposes of making money.
Don’t stand on the fence here. Be honest and say this software is unethical and should not be used.
@ SilverTiger Very well though out comment – thank you for your input.
“Firms selling products like this are not amoral (”it depends how you use the equipment”); they are immoral. They are happy to foster suspicion and deceit for the purposes of making money.”
This is a staggeringly naive comment. I am sure that there are plenty of legitimate uses for this software – just because it is something that you do not approve doesn’t mean anything other than… you don’t like it.
[...] Mobile Spy raises a valid ethical question: when is it okay to spy on someone’s BlackBerry? (Part of the answer is when it’s not their BlackBerry, but yours that they use.) [...]
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