A governing body finally had its head screwed on about consumer privacy for a change. The Federal Trade Commission torched SpyFone’s CEO again. Scott Zuckerman tried to claw his way out of the 2021 order that permanently bans him from operating, selling, or promoting stalkerware. The Commission took one look at his petition and effectively said absolutely not.
SpyFone was stalkerware. Not parental controls. Not safety software. Industrial-grade consumer spyware. The FTC’s original complaint spells it out in plain language. The company sold tools designed to be secretly installed on someone’s phone, disabled security protections, and siphoned off everything. Photos. Text messages. Location trails. Web histories. Real-time GPS movement.
It was built for jealous partners, abusive exes, and employers who wanted to play secret police. The app even instructed customers in how to hide the icon so victims never knew their phone had been compromised. That alone puts it squarely into stalkerware territory.
Citizen Lab and EFF have been warning about this exact pattern for years. Stalkerware vendors steal intimate data and then leave it sitting on misconfigured servers with no serious security. SpyFone was exactly that. The FTC documented sloppy practices, nonexistent access controls, and exposed data. It could not even protect the information it stole.
The 2021 ban was not dramatic. It was necessary.
Zuckerman came back in 2025 begging for a do-over. He claimed conditions had changed and the order was no longer needed. The FTC took public comments. Twenty-seven came in. Then the Commission voted 2 to 0 to deny the petition.
Nothing changed. He stays banned. He stays out of the surveillance business. He does not get to monetize non-consensual monitoring.
This matters because the stalkerware industry is still a sewer. SpyFone was not an outlier. Retina-X. mSpy. The endless wave of rebranded white-label kits sold as monitoring tools while being used overwhelmingly for coercive control and domestic abuse. Hidden installs. Zero transparency. Catastrophic security failures. Groups like EFF and the Coalition Against Stalkerware have documented the same pattern across every vendor.
The FTC is one of the few regulators actually putting these parasites on a leash. Denying this petition sends a very simple message.
Abusive surveillance is not an industry. It is a crime scene.
The Commission said Zuckerman failed to provide any factual or legal basis to reopen the case. Translated out of regulator-speak that means you have not changed, your product has not changed, and the harm is still real.
Domestic abuse shelters and digital safety researchers have warned for a decade that stalkerware is among the most common tools used by abusers. SpyFone helped create that ecosystem. You do not get a second chance at that. You do not get back into the market because you asked nicely.
The message is clear. SpyFone is dead. The ban stays. The CEO stays banned. Any company building spyware for abusers should expect the same outcome.
Good.
Blackout VPN exists because privacy is a right. Your first name is too much information for us.
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FAQ
Why did the FTC ban SpyFone
SpyFone sold covert surveillance tools that harvested data without consent and failed to secure it. The FTC found the harm undeniable.
Did the FTC consider lifting the ban
Yes. The CEO petitioned in 2025. After public comments and review the FTC voted unanimously to keep the ban.
Was SpyFone a parental control tool
No. It was designed for hidden installs and covert monitoring which meets every definition of stalkerware.
How common is stalkerware misuse
Safety groups report consistent use in domestic abuse cases. Vendors often ship insecure products that expose victims further.
Does this ruling affect other stalkerware companies
It signals the FTC is willing to ban operators who facilitate abusive surveillance. Other vendors should expect similar scrutiny