It's called Spyware, snoopware and many other names and it is making its way into more relationships and potentially into even more divorce proceedings. There are many manufacturers that publish Spyware, which is a product that enables a person to track the online activities of their spouse.

The application is loaded onto a computer and all the activities performed while on the computer, are recorded and or forwarded to another person for their review. The data collected can be obtained from keystrokes, screenshots of online activity, and copies of email, chat or instant messaging. It is certainly a cornucopia of information about what the user is doing while on the computer.

The application does have its benefits but increasingly is leading to the destruction of potential evidence that was at one time recoverable. Business marketing, online articles and friends have led to the explosion of purchases nationwide. However the rush to find the information and a drastic misunderstanding of technology has caused well intended people to destroy more information than they actually recover. There are several different methodologies that these companies use to store and or forward the data recorded but the most common includes storing the data to the same hard drive the software is loaded on.

One of my clients suspected her husband of inappropriate online activity. So she purchased a spyware product and installed it on the family computer. Her intention was to retrieve information about his online activities. She left the application operational for several weeks and gathered information about the sites he was visiting. However it did not yield the information that she thought it would reveal. She then called our office to have us perform computer forensics in order to retrieve evidence of his past online activities. It was here that she realized that installing the spyware product on her family computer may not have been the best thing to do, at least not initially.

When you install any software product onto a hard drive you are overwriting the deleted and unallocated areas of the hard drive. If you browse the web, you are causing data to be written to the hard drive, again overwriting the deleted and unallocated areas of the hard drive. Since the family computer was also an older computer the hard drive was very small. This ensured that by the time the spyware product was installed and operational for several weeks, the damage it did to potential evidence was irreversible.

The installation of the product and all of its supporting files no doubt ably caused the loss of data and the subsequent and continuous storing of data to the hard drive over a several week period was icing on the cake, and a lot of it. We were able to recover some data regarding potential face to face meetings but the bulk of what could have been recovered was not recoverable. It is possible that there was nothing else there? Absolutely, but would you want to that chance when you don't have to? Would you want to risk losing the data that you need to make decisions when there is a safe way to prevent that from happening?

The best way to approach the use of spyware is to first obtain a forensic image of the hard drive and then load the spyware product on to the computer. This way you have preserved the potential evidence and can later search that forensic image if you need to without the worry of losing data. Spyware is a utility that can be useful and provide key evidence but it must be utilized used appropriately.

As a last note it important that the products also be used legally. Loading a spyware product on your family computer that you own should pose no problem. However, loading it on a computer that you do not own (boyfriend or girlfriends) is illegal. Remember if in doubt consult with an attorney.

Don't lose the data because you were in a rush. Read all you can, get to know the technology involved and do it right. You will be successful.

DIVORCE ARTICLES
Be Discreet >>
Spyware Bware >>
Dealing With Guilt>>
Accessing Cell Phones>>