"Stalking apps" perfectly legal, for now

HOLYOKE, Mass. (WWLP) - It's a cheap and easy way to track someone's every moment without them knowing, and it's completely legal.

Yes, there is an app for stalking, too, and it's frighteningly easy to download software that can record anything a person's doing while holding their cell phone. That’s especially concerning for many of use who seemingly always have phone in hand.

Many of these apps can be installed in moments and can be installed when a user is sleeping or even in the shower. They also operate invisibly to the cellphone user.

There is an effort to put an end to this high-tech stalking, however.

A bill sponsored by Senator Al Franken (D-Minnesota) would update laws passed years before wireless technology revolutionized communications. Current laws only apply to landline calls, not the internet. If a mobile device sends an email, links to a website or launches an app, the precise location of the phone can be passed to advertisers, marketers and others without the user's permission.

Womanshelter/Companeras Executive Director Karen Cavanaugh told 22News that the potential for stalking is a grave concern for agencies like hers, which handle domestic violence cases. She says there is fear abusers could use the apps to “Track their (victims’) movements, know who they're calling, if they're interacting with an agency like ours for example, and it's perfectly legal to do,” Cavanaugh said.

"And that's our job as domestic violence organization is to stay one step ahead of abusers, because they know how to use this technology."

As this bill moves through Congress, anyone who feels stalked or in danger should call the Womanshelter/Compeneras hotline at 1-877-536-1628.