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How can I spy on someone?
- Thread starter goodtimes5
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Spying on a minor by the parents or by authorization of the parents is not illegal.
Sounds like normal teenager girl activity.
Mistrust breeds mistrust. I applaud your parents for wanted to check up on their kids activity. I don't care for the way they handled it though:
1. First they should immediately tell OP's sister that her activity online is being monitored.
2. This policy should apply to everyone. All the siblings should be subject to monitoring. In this time period, it is the safe/right thing to do with kids for their safety if nothing else.
Sounds like normal teenager girl activity.
Mistrust breeds mistrust. I applaud your parents for wanted to check up on their kids activity. I don't care for the way they handled it though:
1. First they should immediately tell OP's sister that her activity online is being monitored.
2. This policy should apply to everyone. All the siblings should be subject to monitoring. In this time period, it is the safe/right thing to do with kids for their safety if nothing else.
eva01 said:
True, it could have a happy ending. But think of most hormonally-challenged 13-year-old girls... few are going to be considering the 'what-if' scenario.
Congratulations, BTW, on the engagement.
xparaparafreakx said:
To go out on a technicality, P2P software is legal, but the files on it may or may not be. BitTorrent is a great way to grab Linux ISOs, videos, etc. without needing a huge uplink connection. Conversely, it also is a great way to grab DVDs. One is legal, the other is not. But I don't want to get this thread off topic, so I'll stop here.
i actiually had software from spectorsoft installed on my own personal computer. Logs everything, might be what you're looking for.
skubish said:
I'm sure this is true, but also keep in mind that the same does not hold true when the subject is an adult. In that case, wiretap laws in most US states expressly prohibit this sort of spying without clearly letting all parties in the conversation know about it. That's why when you call a customer service number, they tell you the call may be recorded for quality assurance blah blah blah. They have to tell you that. And it doesn't matter who owns the equipment or pays for the communication service (whether phone, internet, etc). There is an expectation of privacy when making communications over any wire, and the law protects that expectation.
Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV.
I just happened to research this issue a while back when something happened in my life that was somewhat relevant.
bankshot said:I'm sure this is true, but also keep in mind that the same does not hold true when the subject is an adult. In that case, wiretap laws in most US states expressly prohibit this sort of spying without clearly letting all parties in the conversation know about it. That's why when you call a customer service number, they tell you the call may be recorded for quality assurance blah blah blah. They have to tell you that. And it doesn't matter who owns the equipment or pays for the communication service (whether phone, internet, etc). There is an expectation of privacy when making communications over any wire, and the law protects that expectation.
Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV.
I'm no lawyer either but this sounds legally serious. From nascent understanding of the law, the parents are legally responsible for both children and their behavior (i.e. if they break something, mom and dad pay) until they are 18. If the child is making libelous or slanderous remarks about the parents (i.e. calling child services) then something is up. Is the girl just an attention hog or is there some real problem going on?
Possibly the brother or OP doesn't really know what's going on. If she is claiming some sort of emotional or physical or sexual abuse vis a vis her computer, it is important that she get checked out. What is she reacting to, i.e. what is causing her behavior? People don't act out of a vacuum, especially at that age. Has she got herself involved with someone she shouldn't be involved with? It is noble, in a way, that the op/apparent sibling wants to find out the truth, but if I were him, i'd talk to a cop first about his rights and the rights involved with his parents.
Upsetting situation but she's got to be isolating/reacting to some stimuli. Teenhood needn't be a horrorshow. However, the parents have the right to search her computer, seize it, shut it down, etc., as far as I can see.
I'm not going to give you a lecture on the big Morals behind spying. Because honestly I don't really care.
Not many people here are helping, so I'll offer you some help, but if it has to do with passwords that your sister knows, then good luck, cause there's not a whole lot you can do.
What are you trying to find out? What programs, sites, etc. are you trying to get information from? There's no one easy way of going about this. But I would recommend a keystroke program to install on her machine, or whatever machine she uses. Don't give me this "I can't find one for Macintosh stuff" (one hint: www.versiontracker.com). Should be able to tell you something. I don't think issues like this should be such a big deal to people who think the CIA/FBI are going to come get you because you offered a suggestion to someone online. Spying/watching/looking over a shoulder. Pick your description of the situation, but no one's going to jail over it all. Relax guys.
Not many people here are helping, so I'll offer you some help, but if it has to do with passwords that your sister knows, then good luck, cause there's not a whole lot you can do.
What are you trying to find out? What programs, sites, etc. are you trying to get information from? There's no one easy way of going about this. But I would recommend a keystroke program to install on her machine, or whatever machine she uses. Don't give me this "I can't find one for Macintosh stuff" (one hint: www.versiontracker.com). Should be able to tell you something. I don't think issues like this should be such a big deal to people who think the CIA/FBI are going to come get you because you offered a suggestion to someone online. Spying/watching/looking over a shoulder. Pick your description of the situation, but no one's going to jail over it all. Relax guys.
Hmm,
Difficult to say.
What would be the most helpful but ethical solution?
If secret use of the computer is the problem, why not move it into a public space, e.g. the living room?
Then your sister can use it as much as she wants, just in a public area with other family members around her watching TV etc.
Make up some plausible arguement like your mum wants to use it for email etc. It's gotta seem good.
If there are other computers in the house, then quietly breaking her computer or removing some vital program / component so that it becomes unuseable is one solution.
You or your parents can then offer to move your computer into the living room so your sister can carry on using the internet. (or offer to buy a new one for the use of the *whole* family, or have hers 'repaired' on condition it is moved to the living room)
Then noone has to spy on anybody, which is a much more healthy situation.
My 20 pennies
RedTomato
Difficult to say.
What would be the most helpful but ethical solution?
If secret use of the computer is the problem, why not move it into a public space, e.g. the living room?
Then your sister can use it as much as she wants, just in a public area with other family members around her watching TV etc.
Make up some plausible arguement like your mum wants to use it for email etc. It's gotta seem good.
If there are other computers in the house, then quietly breaking her computer or removing some vital program / component so that it becomes unuseable is one solution.
You or your parents can then offer to move your computer into the living room so your sister can carry on using the internet. (or offer to buy a new one for the use of the *whole* family, or have hers 'repaired' on condition it is moved to the living room)
Then noone has to spy on anybody, which is a much more healthy situation.
My 20 pennies
RedTomato
MontyZ said:
I haven't, because i know how much it friggen sucks to get spied on. Hell when my brother was going out to go drinking and took a bottle of wine from the house and i knew about it. Did i say a word. hell no, you don't sell out family. Sure he fell on the ground and cut up a bit, and then passed out in our kitchen because he drank way too much. But he sure learned his lesson and hasn't done that in a wwhile
Be careful, you might start having finger cramps from too much posting.Haha I remember posting on this 3 years ago. And my post is only 8 posts up from this one
Weird reading this old thread. But it highlights that what we say on the Internet can hang around for quite some time.
A substantial part of identity theft is from a family member. Spy away
if you think you need to.
if you think you need to.