Spying is no longer limited to private investigators and police officers. Manufacturers have designed several tools to help concerned parents, cheated-on spouses, wealthy property owners, and freedom-conscious citizens with their spy needs.
Video Surveillance
Digital video spy cameras are designed to fit every circumstance and budget. Black-and-white corded cameras are generally the least expensive. Higher priced models feature color images, wireless transmission, extended views, motion-sensor start and stop, long battery life, and infrared night vision. Web cams have become popular nanny cams for parents since the video is displayed in real time over a secure Internet connection. Wearable cameras are particularly useful for anyone who needs a first-person perspective without attracting attention, such as athletes, bicyclists, hikers, researchers, hunters, and undercover professionals.
Audio Surveillance
Several audio devices can be used to spy on quiet chats across the room, secret meetings behind walls, and even conversations in other buildings. Listening devices such as wireless microphones, bionic ears, and parabolic mics can be combined with tape-based and digital recording devices to listen to, capture, and storage critical evidence.
Telephone and Cell Phone Tapping
A special type of audio surveillance concerns users of mobile phones and landlines. Through listening devices, recorders, and call routers, a person can intercept, monitor, and retain incoming and outgoing telephone conversations. Cell phone spying reveals the truth about whether a child, partner, or employee is abusing telephone privileges or using the technology inappropriately. Cell phone tapping can be integrated with computer monitoring software to generate a complete picture of an individual’s activities.
Computer Monitoring
Spying software is an effective tool for catching cheating husbands and wives, monitoring the Internet activity of young children, logging the unethical activities of employees, and investigating the actions of virtually any computer, laptop, or smartphone user. When installed appropriately, the software, often referred to as spyware, can log keystrokes and keep records of instant messages, texts, emails, and website visits.
Tracking
The tools mentioned above are only helpful if the investigator knows where a particular subject is. Tracking devices, such as GPS car locators, fill in the gaps by using satellites to pinpoint a person’s location. The units are typically small enough to be concealed in or under a vehicle. They then relay real-time details about teen drivers, suspected employees, cheating spouses, or car thieves. Less expensive models still track speeds, locations, and driving behaviors, but the information must be downloaded manually from the tracking device. The data can only be reviewed after the fact, not as the behavior is taking place.
To combat the people who try to hide their actions and circumvent the law, spy equipment has evolved into increasingly sophisticated tools. By using video, audio, phone, computer, and tracking surveillance devices, ordinary people can catch the crooks, cheaters, and liars who are wronging them.