Michigan man learns the hard way that “catch a cheater” spyware apps aren’t legal

In 2002, Bryan Fleming helped to create pcTattletale, software for monitoring phone and computer usage. Fleming’s tool would record everything done on the target device, and the videos would be uploaded to a server where they could be viewed by the pcTattletale subscriber. This might sound creepy, but it can also be legal when used by a parent monitoring their child or an employer monitoring their workers.

These are exactly the use cases that were once outlined on pcTattletale’s website, where the software was said to have “helped tens of thousands of parents stop their daughters from meeting up with pedophiles.” Businesses could “track productivity, theft, lost hours, and more.” Even “police departments use it for investigating.” But this week, nearly 25 years after launching pcTattletale