Senate Dem re-ups fight against mobile spyware

Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) is resurrecting his fight to get mobile spying apps banned.

Franken’s call to action this time are reports that sensitive data collected by mSpy, the maker of popular mobile monitoring software, were posted on a dark Web forum.

{mosads}Franken wrote the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday, urging them to investigate mSpy, whose products he called “deeply troubling” and “nothing short of terrifying” when “in the hands of a stalker or abusive intimate partner.”

Security journalist and researcher Brian Krebs first reported he had discovered information on at least 400,000 of mSpy’s 2 million users on an underground online market, indicating a possible hack.

The data included incredibly private data, such as text messages, emails, photos, payment information and location data.

MSpy’s software is most frequently used by parents to track their children or by companies to oversee employees, meaning the dark Web data also contained information about minors and potential corporate trade secrets.

The spyware maker has yet to confirm whether it was hacked.

A spokesperson said Tuesday the company believed it had been “a victim of a predatory attack, aimed to take advantage of our commercial achievements.”

The statement seemed to indicate cyber crooks had tried to extort the company, threatening to release a cache of data unless mSpy paid up. But it was unclear whether the extortionists had actually infiltrated the system and had the cache of data, or were just making empty threats.

Regardless, Franken believes companies like mSpy should be shut down.

“I believe every American has a fundamental right to privacy, which includes the right to control whether and with whom personal, sensitive information — including location data — is being shared,” he said in the letter.

“Such apps not only operate in clear violation of fundamental privacy principles, but the serious danger they pose is well-documented,” Franken added.

Franken has introduced legislation several times that would outlaw mSpy’s products, which Franken calls “stalking apps.”

The Minnesota Democrat also held a hearing on the issue last year, when he chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Privacy and Technology Subcommittee.

The Justice Department did recently make its first foray into the world of mobile tracking apps. In September, the agency arrested someone for trying to sell the spyware StealthGenie, calling the app “expressly designed for use by stalkers and domestic abusers.”

But Franken ultimately believes Congress must step in.

“We need to update our laws to make sure that stalking apps cannot continue to operate in any form, and we need to make sure that we are doing everything possible to address the ever-increasing threat of data breaches,” Franken said. “I will continue to press my colleagues in Congress to act.”