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There's nothing forcing someone to install the app, at least in a stalker situation. Secretly install... maybe, but check your damn phone permissions, people! A

There's nothing forcing someone to install the app, at least in a stalker situation. Secretly install... maybe, but check your damn phone permissions, people! As with many things, there are good and bad use cases. For teens, it's a bit more complicated due to family dynamics, but frankly this seems like a parenting issue that has not changed significantly from how things worked before. Instead, it's just changed form slightly because parents can passively track rather than actively pestering their kids about where they were/are/will be. Bad parenting is not a technological creation. Also, maybe Life360 is just a questionable example, but as far as I know everything there can be toggled in app. Permissions can be denied too. Unless parental controls can stop those options?

azernik 7y ago
These apps were designed to be installed when the phone owner left their phone unguarded, and to be unnoticed by the phone owner. Poor man's Evil Maid attack. TFA: "To install the apps, the purchasers were required to bypass mobile device manufacturer restrictions, which the FTC alleges exposed the devices to security vulnerabilities and likely invalidated manufacturer warranties. In addition, while Retina-X claimed in its legal policies that the apps were intended for monitoring employees and children, Retina-X did not take any steps to ensure that its apps were being used for these purposes. Each of the apps provided purchasers with instructions on how to remove the app’s icon from appearing on the mobile device’s screen so that the device’s user would not know the app was installed on the device, according to the complaint."
- paulddraper 7y ago
  I agree the evil maid attack is a misfeature. I assume many people use it without that aspect.
  - azernik 7y ago
    It's not a misfeature, it's the main intended market.
    - Gibbon1 7y ago
      Kind of reminds me talking to an old client about pet trackers. He said lots of people think there is a market for tracking dogs and kids. But tracking dogs and kids is just pointless and stupid. The truth is the real market is abusive parents, boyfriends, husbands and pimps.

azernik 7y ago

These apps were designed to be installed when the phone owner left their phone unguarded, and to be unnoticed by the phone owner. Poor man's Evil Maid attack. TFA: "To install the apps, the purchasers were required to bypass mobile device manufacturer restrictions, which the FTC alleges exposed the devices to security vulnerabilities and likely invalidated manufacturer warranties. In addition, while Retina-X claimed in its legal policies that the apps were intended for monitoring employees and children, Retina-X did not take any steps to ensure that its apps were being used for these purposes. Each of the apps provided purchasers with instructions on how to remove the app’s icon from appearing on the mobile device’s screen so that the device’s user would not know the app was installed on the device, according to the complaint."

paulddraper 7y ago
I agree the evil maid attack is a misfeature. I assume many people use it without that aspect.
- azernik 7y ago
  It's not a misfeature, it's the main intended market.
  - Gibbon1 7y ago
    Kind of reminds me talking to an old client about pet trackers. He said lots of people think there is a market for tracking dogs and kids. But tracking dogs and kids is just pointless and stupid. The truth is the real market is abusive parents, boyfriends, husbands and pimps.