What is stalkerware? A plain-English guide

The word "stalkerware" sounds dramatic, but the reality is mundane and widespread: it is ordinary, commercially sold software used to secretly monitor another person's phone or computer. It does not require hacking skills, it is cheap, and it is alarmingly easy to install. Understanding what it is and how it works is the first step to protecting yourself.

A simple definition

Stalkerware (sometimes called "spouseware" or "creepware") is monitoring software installed on someone's device without their meaningful consent, typically to track their communications, location and activity. The defining feature is not the technology but the secrecy and lack of consent. The same capabilities, used openly and with consent, would be ordinary monitoring; used covertly against an unaware adult, they constitute stalkerware.

What stalkerware can actually do

Depending on the product and the permissions it obtains, stalkerware can:

• Read text messages and chats in apps like WhatsApp and Messenger
• Track real-time GPS location and movement history
• Log phone calls and, in some cases, record them
• Access photos, videos and files
• Record keystrokes, capturing passwords as they are typed
• Activate the microphone or camera remotely
• Monitor browsing history and social-media activity

All of this typically streams to a web dashboard that the person who installed it can check from anywhere.

How it gets onto a device

The overwhelming majority of stalkerware requires brief physical access to the target device and knowledge of its passcode. Someone borrows or picks up the unlocked phone, installs the app — usually by sideloading it from a website rather than an app store — grants it permissions, hides its icon, and hands the phone back. The whole process can take a few minutes. This is why a strong, private passcode is such an effective defence.

Who installs it, and why

Stalkerware is most commonly associated with controlling and abusive relationships, where one partner uses it to monitor and control the other. It is also marketed for monitoring children and employees, though using it on an unaware adult is illegal in many places. Whatever the framing, the common thread is one person surveilling another who does not know or has not genuinely agreed.

The warning signs

Stalkerware tries to stay hidden, but it leaves traces: faster battery drain, a device that runs warm when idle, increased data usage, and — most tellingly — someone knowing things about your private life they should have no way of knowing. On Android, unexplained device-admin or accessibility permissions are a strong signal; on iPhone, unknown configuration profiles. Our guide to the signs of tracking covers these in detail.

How to protect yourself

1. Lock your device with a strong passcode that only you know, and never share it.
2. Keep "install unknown apps" disabled on Android, closing stalkerware's main installation route.
3. Secure your accounts with unique passwords and two-factor authentication, since some monitoring works through stolen credentials rather than an app.
4. Audit your device periodically using our Android and iPhone guides.
5. Scan suspicious installers with the scanner to confirm whether they are stalkerware.

If you find it

Discovering stalkerware can be frightening, especially if it points to someone close to you. Resist the urge to remove it instantly: in abusive situations, the person monitoring you may be alerted when they lose access, which can escalate danger. Consider documenting the evidence, reaching out to a domestic-violence or digital-safety service from a safe device, and planning your next steps before acting.

Stalkerware thrives on secrecy and the assumption that victims will not look. Simply knowing it exists, recognising the signs, and checking your device shifts the advantage back to you.

Frequently asked questions