Article from MalwareBytes This only applies to Android phones. There are apps that market themselves as a tool that can be placed in the hands of employers who want to keep tabs on employees in the workplace, or in the hands of parents who want to look after their kids. They typically get installed secretly by someone who has access to the phone, and record the person's location, reveal their browser history, record their calls, read their text messages, spy on their social media activity & messages, log what they type, and record what they say (for a total of "15 spying features.") Somewhat understandable for a parent to do, marginally creepy for an employer to do. Apparently these all apps have the same security hole in them, which was discovered and reported on in 2022. They hole has yet to be fixed. There have been pics captured from the phones of children posted on the web by hackers. The apps have beer referred to as Stalkerware because the data can just as easily be placed in the hands of stalkers, abusive partners, or someone who just wants to get a leg up in their divorce proceedings. There are a couple of ways to see if this has been installed on your Android: 1-Install MalwareBytes and scan your phone. You can use MalwareBytes to remove it. 2-Follow the steps in this article. The article recommends you use a trusted phone or device to do this and not your own phone or PC (a friend's phone or PC, or the PC at a public library.)
Yes, according to too many videos on YouTube, it's a too often occurrence. Hence the reason I've decided against getting an Alexa box and why I ditch the Android helper app... Mine began talking but it wasn't a stalker, it was an EVP Phenomenon... Eek!
Alexa records everything you say and stores in on servers. Once someone discovered this, Amazon confirmed it. I won't enable Siri on my iPhone because I don't trust it, although these things are always recording and transmitting our activities. For that reason, I would never install a "Ring" doorbell. I don't want to be Big Brother in my neighborhood...or install a device that monitor's my comings & goings and posts them on the internet.
Not sure what you mean by being "big brother" in the neighborhood, but no one can see your comings and goings unless they have access to your Ring account. In this day and time living in a metro area I would not be without one.
But if it's up on the web, it's potentially exposed. I'd go for a local CCTV system that's on my local recording devices, but nothing on the web is perfectly secured.
I know people who are supposedly computer savvy who still believe that a "private" message on Facebook is private.
I guess the old school equivalent would be believing everything you see on tv...including Carroll O'Conner being a racist, because Archie Bunker. I was just reading about the over 200,000 FB Marketplace accounts that have been hacked on the servers of a contractor. Some names, email addys, phone#s, were published online, the rest are up for sale. Link
I'm more concerned about my bank account information on the internet than someone checking my Ring videos to see Amazon dropping off another package on my porch.