USA Today reports on the use of spyware, easy to conceal surveillance equipment. Spyware includes: tiny cameras; hidden microphones; key loggers (software that tracks keys typed in order to get passwords or other data); GPS-tracking devices (which track your physical location); and wi-fi interception (which monitors your online activities). A recent Department of Justice report revealed electronic monitoring is increasingly being used by stalkers against their victims. I have written before about spyware and how targets of such tracking are starting to use counter-surveillance technologies.

USA Today focuses on the increased sales of spyware around Valentine’s Day:

Sales of spyware to track spouses — his customer service representatives talk with buyers about how they’ll use the items — were 141% higher in the past four weeks than the monthly average for the preceding six months, says Todd Morris, CEO of BrickHouse Security.

Such devices, retailing for $50 to $400, include cameras hidden in alarm clocks, light scanners to detect evidence of sexual activity and devices to monitor e-mail.

Morris says he expected more people to stay home with their spouses in a weak economy, but sales suggest otherwise. “Apparently,” he says, “money troubles don’t stop the philandering.”

This entry was posted on Friday, February 13th, 2009 and is filed under Cameras, Civil liberties, Identification, Security, Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.