The New York Attorney General’s office has today barred Patrick Hinchy – the developer of several spyware apps, to publicize them via advertising.
He was accused of misinforming users about their legality and raking money in the name of safe surveillance means. He was penalized about $410,000 and was asked to inform all his customers about being snooped on via his range of apps.
Stalkerware Apps for Tracking Partners
The Attorney General’s office of New York has just made a legal agreement with Patrick Hinchy – a developer of several stalker ware apps like Auto Forward, Easy Spy, DDI Utilities, Highster Mobile, PhoneSpector, Surepoint, and TurboSpy.
Calling his apps’ practice illicit, the general slashed a $410,000 fine for promoting his apps through 16 companies illegally. Also, Hinchy was ordered to alert his victims through notifications from a range of his apps.
Snooping on a partner's phone without consent isn’t just a sign of an unhealthy relationship, it's against the law.
Today, we stopped several companies from illegally promoting products that allowed spying on:
????Calls and texts
???? Photos and videos
✉️ Emails and social media
— NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) February 2, 2023
His bunch of spyware offerings allows customers to spy on others – by starting with an installation of the app without their consent! Hinchy was found advertising these apps widely to the public – with an impression that they’re completely legal, even though they are banned in several states.
“Snooping on a partner and tracking their cell phone without their knowledge isn’t just a sign of an unhealthy relationship, it is against the law.”
Talking on this, Attorney General James said Hinchy’s apps could suck the victim’s location, browsing history, call logs, text messages, photos and videos, email activity, WhatsApp and Skype chats, and social media activity.
Some services have even gone further by accessing the victim’s device’s camera and microphone remotely to eavesdrop. The US FTC has banned several such stalker ware apps in the past for leaking user data. Popular services like Spyfone and Retina-X have leaked sensitive data through their cloud, putting all customers at risk.
