Enough with secure phones! Here's the phone that's made to spy on its user

The cavalcade of NSA spying revelationscreated a golden opportunity for security companies to claim theirshare of the vast smartphone market. First, it was Silent Circle'sBlackPhone and its PrivatOS that's chock-full of secure software andenhancements. Soon after, FreedomPop's Privacy phone claimed to beworthy of Edward Snowden's approval. Then, Angela Merkel'stricked-out BlackBerry was made available to everyone that's willingto spend $3K on a smartphone. And that's only the beginning.

While other security companies turnedsmartphone vendors are probably preparing their announcements as wespeak, mSpy, maker of smartphone tracking software, is rolling inthe opposite trend - phones made to spy on their users! The legal andmoral questions surrounding such a product are strong, but after all,what's the point of secure phones if there's no one left to spy? Notethe irony and carry on reading.

Starting today, mSpy is selling the HTCOne, Nexus 5, Samsung Galaxy S4, and iPhone 5S with its trackingsoftware quietly pre-loaded and lurking in the background. The $199per year subscription service records everything the user does -calls, keystrokes, emails, messages, photos, location movement, youname it. The looted data is then made available for online viewing.In the better scenario, you will give this phone to a consentingindividual, like your child, or another relative that needs to bewatched from time to time. In the worst scenario, you will hand thephone to the unsuspecting victim of your spying and gape at anelaborate RSS feed of its life. This is the anti-Snowden phone.

This is the anti-Snowden phone

If you are wondering how such apolarizing product can openly exist on the market, mSpy's founder,Andrei Shimanovich, will brief you on the matter without batting aneyelid. “It is the same question with the gun producer,”says the 27-year old Belarus native who lives in New York. “Ifyou go out and buy a gun, and go shoot someone, no one will go afterthe gun producer. People who shoot someone will be responsible forthis. Same thing for mSpy. We just provide the services which cansolve certain tasks regarding parents and teenagers.”

Obviously, mSpy is aimed primarily at“white-hat users”, such as employers, parents, and crowd behaviorresearchers. We believe the product makes a lot of sense for suchcustomers, but there's zero doubt that the technology can beexploited for very harmful deeds - much worse than the antics ofjealous lovers and control freaks. Shimanovich is very aware aboutthis, but retains his objective demeanor: “I don’t think wecan judge if it is good or bad, it is just the way it is.” Justlike with weapons, laws, and some of life's finest or lowest moments.

sources: mSpyand Forbes