One woman discovered her husband had installed an app on her phone that gave him unfettered access to her location and phone activity. A story recently published in The Mirror chronicles the experience of Catharine Higginson, married to husband James for 10 years, who said she found out by accident that her husband could spy on her every move.
She said it happened when she missed a text from her bank regarding a financial transfer. When she got home, James told her he’d already taken care of it through the app. At first, she said she was shocked, and his “words sent a shiver down my spine.”
She said James had installed the app Ceberus, which allowed him to track her location, read her texts and listen to phone conversations.
She wrote: “These apps are not there to spy on your wife! But James, whenever he feels like it, can sit at his computer and pull up a specific web page, log in and locate all the family phones. He can then download my texts and listen to conversations I’m having with people wherever I am. He can also see who I’m with via the camera.”
She said she decided later that the app actually is practical and a safety device — when you need to find someone, for example, or if your car breaks down. She argues that she doesn’t see it as spying, but about her husband “caring about my well-being.”
The app is also installed on the phones of her three children, from another marriage. They range in age from 12 to 19.
After her story came out, social media exploded with readers alleging her husband is too controlling, even abusive.
“Personally I’d find it much more “creepy” if I was in a relationship where the person wouldn’t let me have the password to their computer. I don’t think total transparency is creepy at all. If you’ve got nothing to hide, there’s no big deal.”
