Man arrested for using cellphone app to track girlfriend’s every move

A 20-year-old man has been arrested in Jaén after giving his girlfriend a cellphone installed with spy software, which he used to track her every movement.

Phone calls, WhatsApp messages, emails, social network activity, her location, bank accounts – all were under the man’s control through the phone application, which even allowed him to remotely activate the device’s microphone and camera without her knowledge.

He had 100-percent control of her. He wanted to check what she was doing and where she was at every moment” National Police sources

“He had 100-percent control of her,” said police sources. “He wanted to check what she was doing and where she was at every moment.”

Using an application to spy on somebody in Spain is illegal, the sources reminded.

The man, who admitted to the facts of the case during the court hearing, was arrested last week on counts of gender violence and breaching personal privacy. The judge maintained the charges before releasing him, pending trial, Europa Press reported.

“The woman was submitted to rigorous control, as well as serious psychological pressure from the arrested man,” said National Police.

After nine months in a relationship with the man, the 27-year-old victim first went to police headquarters to file a complaint of psychological abuse against him. In her statement she added that she also suspected he was controlling her cellphone. “She didn’t think it was normal that he knew her location and certain situations that happened in her daily life,” noted the police, who added that she had tried to break off the relationship several times but he had not let her.

“When she definitively succeeded in breaking off the relationship, he confessed to her he was still watching her because he had tapped her phone,” the police sources said.

But his surveillance went much further than her phone calls, as became clear when the application was discovered. “He even went so far as to ridicule her in front of her friends, as well as emotionally blackmailing her. If he had shared the information, the charges could have been worse,” said police.

English version by Nick Funnell.