While the majority of respondents (70%) do not believe it is acceptable to monitor their partner without consent, a significant share of people (30%) see no problem at all and find it acceptable under some circumstances.
This is one of the findings from a global survey of more than 21 000 participants in 21 countries about their attitudes towards privacy and digital stalking in intimate relationships. Stalkerware enables a perpetrator to digitally monitor another person’s private life via a mobile device without the victim’s consent.
The research was commissioned by Kaspersky to mark the second anniversary of the Coalition Against Stalkerware, which it co-founded.
Of those who think certain reasons justify secret surveillance, almost two thirds (64%) would do so if they believed their partner was being unfaithful, if it was related to their safety (63%), or if they believed them to be involved in criminal activity (50%).
Looking at geographical differences, it is noticeable that the highest agreement level on monitoring in general comes from respondents in the Asia-Pacific region (24%), whereas in Europe (10%) and the Americas (8%) fewer people find this acceptable.
Beyond that, Kaspersky’s Digital Stalking in Relationships report, conducted online by Sapio Research in September 2021, shows that 15% of respondents worldwide have been required by their partner to install a monitoring app. Sadly, 34% of those indicating this answer have also already experienced abuse by an intimate partner.
Partners advising on the research were domestic violence experts from other member organisations of the Coalition Against Stalkerware: Australia’s national umbrella organisation for domestic violence services, Wesnet; the women’s rights organisation Centre Hubertine Auclert in France; the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) in the USA; the victim support charity Refuge in the UK; and WWP EN, the European umbrella association for perpetrator programs.
“It is dangerous to justify exerting any sort of control over a partner in the light of suspected infidelity. Preventive campaigns addressing the issues of coercive control, jealousy and infidelity would be a valuable tool against these attitudes,” explains Berta Vall Castelló, research and development manager of the European Network for the Work with Perpetrators of Domestic Violence (WWP EN).
The findings suggest that online monitoring can be another way of exerting coercive control in intimate relationships. Given that stalkerware is commercially available software that lies hidden on a device and provides access to an array of personal data, such as device location, browser history, text messages or social media chats, it might also not be surprising that it may serve as another tool in abusive relationships.
“I really urge anyone who is experiencing stalking – either in real life or through stalkerware – and who feels it would be unsafe or dangerous to confront their abuser, to reach out to a domestic abuse organisation to get advice and support,” says Karen Bentley, CEO of Wesnet, Australia’s national umbrella organisation for domestic violence services.
“The National Network to End Domestic Violence is delighted Kaspersky is taking steps forward to increase understanding about privacy and the use of stalkerware in intimate partner relationships. More data is needed in this area and we look forward to seeing this information put to use to improve safety and privacy protections for survivors,” comments Erica Olsen, director of Safety Net at the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV).
Global detection figures
Following the Coalition Against Stalkerware’s detection criteria on stalkerware, Kaspersky analysed its statistics revealing how many of its users were affected by stalkerware in the first 10 months of the year.
It found that, from January to October 2021, almost 28 000 mobile users were affected by this threat. During the same period, there were more than 235 cases in Kenya, and 213 in South Africa and 102 in Nigeria, respectively.