If modern history has ever firmly demonstrated anything, it’s that new technologies rarely reach success and acceptance without hitting a few bumps on the road. One of the best examples is the parental control monitoring software solution Spy Phone.
What is Spy Phone and what does it do?
Spy Phone is a surveillance app that helps today’s parents carry out the difficult job of keeping their children safe from all the dangers and risks they may encounter while using the Internet on their phones. These dangers can be anything – sexual abuse, kidnapping, porn, theft, fraud, bullying – just to name a few.
Children and teenagers are often unaware of these dangers and that not everyone they meet (online or offline) is a friend. Yet, they can’t be kept away from the Internet and electronics – not just because that would make them feel excluded, but also for practical reasons, like access to online classes, studying, doing homework, or simply for entertainment.
Surveillance technologies like Spy Phone are trying to address this problem. Spy Phone is installed on the target user’s phone, where it monitors that user’s GPS location, contacts, and apps installed.
This allows parents to stay aware of all their child’s activities on that phone and act quickly if they notice anything out of the ordinary. For instance, if the child is lost or kidnapped, the GPS location of their phone will help the parents and police find them.
The Spy Phone app can also be used for corporate purposes, such as to monitor the use of the employees’ department-issued phones. It makes sense for companies that want to make sure their employees are using their work phones only for their job, and not for private purposes.
All the information transmitted from the target phone can be accessed on the Spy Phone website. The free app is visible to the user of the target phone.
History of Spy Phone
Spy Phone was founded by Dan Parisi, a computer programmer proficient in website design, Java, and SQL programming, with a BSc in Finance and Economics and over 25 years of experience in running online websites and developing software products. Parisi is also a parent of three children, hence the interest in protecting youngsters online.
In 2009, Spy Phone applied for the U.S. trademark, developing its first app in 2010. The Spy Phone U.S. trademark was approved in 2011. The following year saw the establishment of Spy Phone Labs LLC as well as the beginning of the development of its first child protection apps for iOS and Android. The Android app was made available in the Google Play store that same year.
In 2013, the Android app was updated to add features including collecting SMS messages, online activities, phone calls, contacts, and GPS location. It was in this year that Spy Phone amassed over one million downloads across the world.
The iOS app was completed in 2014 and made available in the Apple App Store, albeit with more basic features – tracking GPS location only.
At this point, the number of downloads measured steady growth, reaching 5 million in 2018.
In 2019, the publisher updated the apps with contacts and reverse phone lookup features, and in 2020 the Spy Phone trademarks were issued in Australia and Israel, starting the trademark procedure in Canada. Spy Phone Labs also acquired the domain name Spyfone.com to go along with spyphone.com which it already owned.
