Amnesty Releases Free Tool to ‘Detekt’ Government Spyware on Computers and Phones

Sick of being tracked without your consent or knowledge by the National Security Agency and its ilk? Amnesty International has an app for that. The human rights group has spent two years working with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Privacy International and Digitale Gesellschaft to develop Detekt, a program that will find government spying software without triggering security alerts.

And the best part is it’s totally free of charge.

The Guardian:

Human rights experts and technology groups have launched a new tool allowing members of the public to scan their computers and phones for surveillance spyware used by governments.

Amnesty says Detekt is the first tool freely available that will allow activists and journalists to find out if their electronic devices are being monitored without their knowledge.

Marek Marczynski, head of military, security and police at Amnesty, said: “Governments are increasingly using dangerous and sophisticated technology that allows them to read activists’ and journalists’ private emails and remotely turn on their computer’s camera or microphone to secretly record their activities. They use the technology in a cowardly attempt to prevent abuses from being exposed. Detekt is a simple tool that will alert activists to such intrusions so they can take action.”

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—Posted by Natasha Hakimi Zapata