The short answer is yes, and more easily than most people realise. A smartphone with certain applications installed can silently record audio through its microphone, transmit that audio to a remote receiver, report location in real time, forward copies of messages and calls, and display all of this information to whoever installed the application — all without the phone’s owner being aware.
Smartphone monitoring applications — sometimes called stalkerware or spyware — are widely available and in some cases are marketed as parental controls or employee monitoring tools. In the context of a relationship or personal dispute, their use without the other person’s knowledge or consent is both a breach of their privacy and in most cases unlawful.
How Smartphones Are Used to Monitor People
Monitoring applications: dedicated spyware applications installed directly on the device, typically requiring brief physical access to an unlocked phone. Once installed, they run invisibly in the background, transmitting audio, location, messages, and calls to a remote dashboard. Many are specifically designed to be hidden from the device’s application list.
iCloud and Google account access: where someone has access to another person’s Apple ID or Google account credentials, they can access a significant amount of the device’s data remotely, including location history, iCloud backups, and in some cases messages. This does not require physical access to the device.
Shared family tracking features: legitimate location-sharing features built into iOS and Android — Find My on Apple devices, Google Family Link, Life360 — can be used to monitor a person’s location if enabled on the device and if the other person has access to the linked account. These features are not concealed, but the person being tracked may not be aware they are enabled.
Malicious applications: less commonly, malicious applications downloaded from outside the official app stores can perform monitoring functions without disclosure.
Signs a Phone May Have Monitoring Software
- The battery drains significantly faster than usual, without any change in usage pattern.
- The phone runs noticeably warm when it is not being used or charging.
- Unexpected spikes in mobile data usage, visible in the phone’s data usage settings.
- The phone lights up, activates, or makes sounds when you are not using it.
- You notice unfamiliar applications, or applications that appear to have been recently installed.
- Another person appears to know the content of conversations, messages, or locations that you have not shared with them.
- The phone was recently ‘updated’, ‘repaired’, or handled by someone else.
What Can Be Done About It
Where monitoring software is suspected, the investigation options are: a professional device assessment, which examines the phone for installed applications and processes that are not legitimate; a factory reset, which removes any installed software including monitoring applications but also removes all personal data (back up first if the device is safe to use normally); and changing account credentials, which prevents remote access through shared accounts.
Before taking any of these steps, it is worth thinking about the evidential implications. If the monitoring is part of a harassment or stalking pattern that you may want to report to the police or use in legal proceedings, the device and any software installed on it is potential evidence. Contact us first and we can advise on the right sequence of steps.
Is It Legal to Install Monitoring Software on Someone’s Phone?
Installing monitoring software on another adult’s phone without their knowledge and consent is unlawful in the UK. It constitutes unauthorised access to computer material under the Computer Misuse Act 1990, engages the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 where communications are intercepted, and may constitute stalking or harassment under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. It also breaches UK GDPR.
The position on monitoring applications marketed to parents for use on children’s devices is more nuanced and depends on the child’s age and the specific application. In an adult relationship context, covert monitoring of a partner’s phone is not lawful regardless of the circumstances.
Concerned your smartphone may have monitoring software? Contact ARF Private Investigators for a confidential device assessment.