Spyware?

The problem is that when my youngest is with his father, he has access to it. I hate to have to tell him that his dad is putting spyware on his phone and that he needs to not allow him access. I was hoping there was some sort of password-protected "lock" I could put on it.

Since it's already been "jailbroken" your best technological solution is to restore it as a new iPhone, which (if successful, and doesn't result in it becoming permanently disabled) will result in removing any privacy-intrusive software that you suspect may be present.

That's it as far as a technological solution goes, but if the iPhone is being repeatedly taken and altered in any manner in which you do not approve, then you must seek a solution that goes beyond the scope of this support forum. An iPhone is a very personal device. Taking possesion of it for the purposes of altering it is personally intrusive at the very least. Arguably, it's theft.

Discovering wrote:

The problem is that when my youngest is with his father, he has access to it. I hate to have to tell him that his dad is putting spyware on his phone and that he needs to not allow him access. I was hoping there was some sort of password-protected "lock" I could put on it.

Who owns the phone? If you do, then call your lawyer. If you own the phone, and his father jailbroke it and put spyware on it, that's a crime.

deggie wrote:

I don't know of any jurisdiction that would take any criminal case for jailbreaking an iPhone especially given these circumstances but you could get a restraining/protective order from a court forbidding him from handling the iPhone.

If someone is using a jailbreak to track a device they don't own, most jurisdictions will pursue criminal charges. The precedents have already been set in multiple States. Especially considering the party in question usually isn't actually interested in tracking the activities of the child, but rather, those of the other parent. The custodial parent must, of course, choose to prefer charges, but even without going to that extreme, it can be used in custody disputes.

When in doubt, call a lawyer.

The other parent is going to claim it is to track the child if they even admit to putting spyware on the phone. Most states don't have any laws that apply to rooting or jailbreaking smartphones but in a dometic case with two custodial parents involved I do not know of any jurisdiction, and I've never seen any jurisdiction attempt to make such a case. Rulings saying jailbreaking, except in the case of unlocking the phone, is not illegal would also be problematic. Which is why I suggested that she pursue a civil route which would require an attorney.

Then again there is also the issue of proving who actually jailbroke the iPhone.

Discovering wrote:

The problem is that when my youngest is with his father, he has access to it. I hate to have to tell him that his dad is putting spyware on his phone and that he needs to not allow him access.

Get your son a cheap flip phone to take to his dad's. Switch the SIM around as necessary.

No, but they do have laws against tracking a device that doesn't belong to you. It's stalking. Multiple criminal cases have been successfully prosecuted in the last few years.

I agree, though, a lawyer is the right way to go. If criminal charges are warranted, they can advise her.

Yes Tim, I'm quite familiar with stalking cases having worked a few. But in this case although the mother bought the iPhone, she gave it to the son, whom we assume is a juvenile, to use. The father is following, tracking, whatever his own son. If he was the one who owned the account he could pay AT&T $4.95 per month to do so. With the information we have here there is no criminal case and calling in the police could escalate a bad situation for the child involved.

Dear No Dumb Blonde,

There are alot of people on here who know what they are talking about. The ones who say there is no spyware that can be installed on nonjailbroken phones do not know what they are talking about.

The naysayers have to be ignored. You know what you know.

But, in saying that,,,, in theory what your ex is doing is illegal. But it is almost impossible to prove so the police won't touch it with a ten foot pole. Either will your lawyer if he is ethical. Because the most he/she can do is write a letter to your ex's attorney and then when they get it, they will laugh, call you paranoid and unstable (let me guess, that is already the route he is taking... yes?) and then it will show up in a court document. If you tell your children about what is happening, your ex will say you are making up lies to alienate him from the kids. This is bad.

So, here is what you need to do. 1) If it is an iphone wipe it out to factory settings. yes, it is inconvenient for contacts but just add them back. He will probably continue to install the spyware each time the kids visit.... 2)so you can keep a phone for your home use and have a phone you send to your dad's. Your kids get a weekend phone and a weekday phone. ???Lucky kids BUT remember this. Even if the phone is off, the spyware is activated. The only way to make sure the spyware is not recording is to take the battery out. And with iphones, you can't do that, so make the kids weekend phone and android or blackberry.

I know I am not giving you good news but I am giving you a chance to stop going nuts about it.

If you don't like any of my suggestions you can do this. Keep the phone in the car at night if you are having private conversations and when you are in the presence of the phone be a REALLY great person and Mom. Give him a good example to live up too! Hope this helps.

So since you know what you are talking about can you cite the names of spyware that can be installed on a non-jailbroken iPhone and how one would install it? Or are you saying there is spyware in the App Store?

Hi Deggie,

May I first clarify what I meant by you know what you know. When people have spyware on their phone, it starts behaving weirdly, lighting up randomly and the battery draining. (not to mention the obvious of missing texts etc).

This is what I meant by you know when there is spyware on your phone. I don't know about all the spyware, I chose not to go that route. I honestly never wanted to know what he was doing or saying behind my back because I didn't care. This article seems helpful for people who are wondering or trying to prove their phone is bugged.

http://www.iiiweb.net/forensic-services/cell-phone-spyware-facts/

You edited your link.

None of the apps on the other list are really spyware and you can't put them on an iPhone without having access to their account.

The link you replaced it with is dated and they are a company that wants to make money on people's phones. They never say non-jailbroken iPhones can have spyware and in fact, reading the whole thing, exactly the opposite.

There are many reasons why an iPhone May light up, behaving weirdly, battery, draining, missing texts and spyware isn't high on that list.

For an iPhone to have true spyware it has to be jailbroken. If one suspects this has happened put the phone in DFU mode and restore it, the jailbreaking will be cleared.

Unfortunately 10 times out of 10 people attribute strange behaviour on their phone to spy software. They do not possibly think that a combination of applications, operating software and operating conditions could be causing the issue - oh no, you must have been hacked!

This needs to stop.

All of the issues that were explained by speakinout when they say 'you know what you know' can always be explained logically and legitimately. People are just too quick to panic and blame something without taking the time to look further in to the issue.

E.g. "I was on a call with a friend and my phone started beeping so someone must have been listening in' (or you just have a voicemail waiting).

That website posted is a joke too - pure paranoia.

Bluetooth, MMS, PC connection, remote installation - all fake but people believe what they want to believe.

Case and point:

http://www.spyphonereview.com/bluetooth-spy-phone-e-stealth-scam-exposed/

9 times out of 10 the supposed spy phone software installed on to a phone is actually really easy to find:

Case and point:

http://www.spyphonereview.com/mspy-review-mobile-phone-monitoring-android/

All you have to do is think logically.

If spying on someone else's phone was so easy then I could be spying on you all right now.

Oh and any iPhone MUST be jailbroken for spy software to be installed - no exceptions.

Thanks.

speakinout wrote:

Hi Deggie,

May I first clarify what I meant by you know what you know. When people have spyware on their phone, it starts behaving weirdly, lighting up randomly and the battery draining. (not to mention the obvious of missing texts etc).

This is what I meant by you know when there is spyware on your phone. I don't know about all the spyware, I chose not to go that route. I honestly never wanted to know what he was doing or saying behind my back because I didn't care. This article seems helpful for people who are wondering or trying to prove their phone is bugged.

http://www.iiiweb.net/forensic-services/cell-phone-spyware-facts/

When people have spyware on their phone, it starts behaving weirdly, lighting up randomly and the battery draining. (not to mention the obvious of missing texts etc).

A logical reason for that iPhone not to contain spyware. What sensibly written spyware would announce it's presence by causing such faults with the phone's operation that "you know when there is spyware on your phone"?

First of all, I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to offer suggestions and answers to my question. What a wealth of information!!! I truly appreciate it.

I spoke with my lawyer and he said that I need proof that the phone was jail broken (screenshots, etc that can be used in court) and he will use it as part of the case against my ex. He constantly bullies and threatens the kids and I. Even though he can say that he is looking out for the best interest of his son, any information gained from the "spyware" should legally be shared with the other parent. The fact that he has not shared it with me shows that he is not using it in the best interest of my son. He is withholding information from the other parent which is in violation of the parenting plan.

I told both of my kids to make sure that they do not share their passcode with anyone, including their father (I hate that it had to come to that, but unfortunately it did). My daughter has an iPhone 5 so a passcode isn't as big of an issue because she can use the fingerprint option. My son will have to be more careful since he has a 4s.

Question, I know that several people have said to search for certain things on the phone to determine if there is spyware or has been jail broken . His phone had "cydia" (I don't think it is spelled correctly) but when he came home Monday night from his dads it didn't show up anymore. It also isn't recognized by my iTunes anymore and I can't sync it to my Mac. How can I prove that there is spyware on his phone?

Thanks again for your help!!!