Phone surveillance apps can monitor incoming and outgoing phone calls, intercept messaging (WhatsApp, Facebook, Telegram, Snapchat, Espiar Instagram, etc.) and SMS, listen to what’s going on in the room with a microphone, locate and capture images from phone cameras. These applications are hidden and undetectable by the user.

What is spyware?

Spyware is a special application that allows the user to monitor some activity on another user’s device (calls, texts, searches, etc.). Such software is relatively legal and popular with certain users.

Parameters to consider when choosing spyware:

• Types of data and activity being tracked;
• The quality and efficiency of tracking – most programs do not have such high levels and you will not get access to all of the data anyway;
• The degree of secrecy of the application’s actions on the tracked device;
• Stability of information transfer;
• Convenience of configuring and managing the spyware application, adequacy of the interface;
• Additional functionality.

Commercial spyware

Commercial spyware has been the subject of public discussion and criticism on several occasions, but its status in most countries remains uncertain. Some vendors position their programs as parental controls. However, despite some overlap in functionality, these programs should not be confused with these kinds of applications and programs designed to help users find a lost phone. First, commercial surveillance programs are distributed through their own sites, which is a violation of Google’s security guidelines. Second, the capabilities of these programs allow them to violate a user’s privacy without their knowledge – the application icon can be hidden in the application menu while the program is running in the background, with some of the application’s functions performing surveillance (e.g. recording the victim’s voice). Some programs even remove traces of their presence on the phone, and remove installed security solutions after the attacker grants the app root rights.

Are phone spyware programs legal?

Yes, if your underage children are involved.

Can I install phone spying apps remotely?

The installation requires physical access to the device or access using a remote access program.

Can I send surveillance apps via email?

Yes, if you have written permission from the owner of the device to install such software.

Conclusion

There is no need to prove that stalkerware applications have negative consequences – already their original concept is absolutely unethical. However, there are many other threats to which the user who installs them is exposed. Such apps violate app store rules, damage device security, and expose data collected from victims to the risk of leakage through hacking. Subsequently, the stolen data can be used for all kinds of malicious activities, from extortion to digital identity theft.

Just a few short years ago it would have been impossible to to find out who owns a phone number but this is not the case any longer. Doing a “reverse telephone lookup” as it’s often called, can be as simple as clicking a few buttons on a web site. You can even do it from your smartphone and check someone out as soon as you meet them. Back in the days of printed telephone directories this would have seemed like science fiction but today it’s very much fact and a part of everyday life.

Why would you want to do a reverse phone check?

If you have never needed to look someone up by their phone number then it might not be obvious to you where and when it might be beneficial to do so. Here are a few reasons why you might consider using a reverse phone directory.

1. Did you get a strange call?

Did you ever get a call from someone that you didn’t know? Perhaps you missed the call and you are curious about the number that you don’t recognize. Should you call them back to find out who it was or do you go online and get some details about the owner of the number first?

2. Do you have a new friend?

Have you just met someone new but you aren’t sure that they are being honest with you? Why not check out the phone number he gave you. You can make sure that it is his number and find out some background information on him at the same time. It would be nice to know if he has a criminal record for instance wouldn’t it?

3. Learn more about the sender of that email

Have you received an email from someone that you don’t know? If there is a phone number in the signature then you can look to see who it’s registered to.

4. Is your partner being honest with you?

Have you found a piece of paper with a number on it around the house? It could have fallen out of the laundry for instance. Do a reverse check on the number to make sure that your partner isn’t hiding anything from you.

How to do a reverse telephone lookup

Finding out who owns a telephone number could not be easier than it is today. All you have to do is visit a reverse telephone directory web site, enter the number you are interested in and pay a small fee. Not only will this give you access to details and background information about the owner it will also allow you to look up as many numbers as you want to.

Checking out a phone number is quick, efficient and very affordable so go and do it.

Now you may or not know that it is possible to look up just about anyone in the US of A by using commercial public records databases.

This particular site can be used for finding people and investigating their background but it isn’t free. It is inexpensive however and you can do a lot with the low cost trial that they offer. I love how easy it is to use this site but I wanted to see if it was possible to locate people on the Internet absolutely free. I did have some success as you will see.

Finding People with the Google search engine

The first thing that I tried was to type in the persons first and last name straight into the Google search box. This simple technique can sometimes be surprisingly effective if the name you are looking for isn’t very common or the subject is famous for something. However if you are looking for someone with a common name like “John Smith” then be prepared to receive floods of irrelevant search results. Don’t give up yet though because there are ways of refining your search query to give you a better chance of finding what you are looking for.

Refining your search

The first thing to do is make sure that you are signed out of any Google services. Google have a nasty habit of modifying your search results to give you what it thinks you want based on your previous Internet activity. This is unlikely to be very helpful when you are trying to find someone who you have not searched for before. So sign out so that Google doesn’t know who you are.

The Google search engine can be very powerful in the right hands and most people have no clue about the many useful features that it offers. If you can master just a few of these search tools then you will be amazed at what you can accomplish.

Search by region

The first thing that you might want to do is limit the geographical area where you want your search to apply. If you know that the person you are searching for has always lived in the US then there is probably little point in searching the rest of the world for them.

To limit your search results to the US go to the Advanced Search page. There should be a link labeled “Advanced Search” at the bottom of your search results. You may need to do a simple search first before this link appears. Click on it to get to the advanced settings.

The Advanced page allows you to set various filters including “region” Select the “United States” region from the drop down menu, enter the person’s name in the “all these words” box at the top then click the “Advanced Search” button at the bottom.

The region filter isn’t 100% effective at keeping the rest of the world out but it tries it’s best for you.

Search for the exact phrase using quotation marks

If you simply type the words “John” and “Smith” into the Google box without the quotes then the results that you get will consist of pages that contain both words anywhere on the page in any order. This means that you are likely to find pages mentioning “John Doe” and “Jane Smith” and thousands of other pages like it, equally irrelevant to what you are searching for.

You can easily fix this problem by enclosing your search query in quotation marks e.g. “John Smith” including the quotes. Google will now only show you pages that have those 2 words together and in that order. This tiny modification to your search query can make a huge difference to the quality of your results. You can enclose as many words as you want in quote marks so you might want to try adding a middle name. This is worth trying but might not be very effective because most people rarely use their middle names.

Still too many results

So you have limited your search to a single region or country and you are searching for the person’s name in quotes for an exact match but you are still not getting the results that you were hoping for. What next?

Adding another word

When you type words or phrases in quotes into the search box you will get results that contain all of those words or phrases. So you can improve your search by finding a word or phrase that applies to your person but not to everyone by that name. For instance if you know where they live then you might search for [“John Smith” Alabama] or [“John Smith” Orlando]. I’m using the square brackets here to enclose everything that is typed into the Google box. This time you will get only web pages that mention the name and area you entered.

I have had some luck with this method as it tends to deliver results from address and phone directories. Most of these directories require payment before you can see all the information but often the free information is enough to confirm an address or phone number.

What is your subject known for?

Is there anything about the person that you are looking for that might make them stand out from the crowd? Is she a pilot for instance? Does she keep a pet? do you know their profession? Here are some examples of search queries that you could try: [“Jane Smith” pilot], [“John Smith” tiddles], [“John Smith” carpenter] etc. Any one of these queries could dig up gold for you when you find the right person from a social media page, professional networking site or even their own website or blog.

Searching for businesses

Finding a business online is usually a very simple task using Google, Yahoo, Bing or even one of the lesser known search engines. Generally speaking, businesses want to be found online so they make efforts to ensure that they can be found easily. Try entering the name of the business and the location into the Google box and more often or not, you will find what you are after.

What else can you do with a Google Search?

You can do all sorts of things with a Google query. For instance you can use “OR” between words when you want to find pages with either or all of your search words. An example of this might be if you were looking for recipes that were either [Vegetarian OR Vegan].

If you put a “-” in front of a word then you are looking for pages that do not include that word e.g. [salsa -dance] meaning that you are interested in the sauce and not the dance.

Another powerful query operator is called a tilde “~”. Place this squiggle character in front of a word to find pages with words that are similar to the one you entered. So the query [~pet] will find pages with any of the words “pet”, “dog”, “cat, “Fish”, “animal” etc.

How many times have you told someone that you would keep in touch with them but for one reason or another you haven’t kept the promise? Don’t feel bad because we all do it. You didn’t mean to forget them but it just happened. You went off to live your life and they went in another direction to live their own.

Sooner or later you get to a stage where you start to think about some of the people that you were very close to years ago and set about trying to find them again. But how do you find them now after all these years – they could be anywhere couldn’t they? Well don’t worry because help is at hand. The secret to how to find people lies with the Internet and with some very sophisticated and large public records databases.

If you think that it’s easy to forget people that you haven’t seen for some time then it’s even easier to forget someone’s birthday even when you see them every day. The Internet comes to the rescue again because the same huge public records databases that help you to find someone can also help you to find their birthday. You never have to admit that you’ve forgotten a birthday again.

The Internet is getting more powerful and puts information at your fingertips

Technology marches on at a breakneck speed and one of the more impressive developments is to put information and public records at your disposal to use when and how you want. You can use public records database web sites to search for people, find out where they live, when they were born, who they are married to, any criminal records and so much more that it will make your head spin.

Whether you want to find someone that you haven’t seen for some time or simply find out the birth date of someone that you see all the time then all you have to do is enter their details into a box on the right web site and see what information you can find.