Should You Spy on your Family's Computer?

Parents of children who have been victims of online predators are aware of how dangerous the Internet can be. Several computer programs can help parents know everything about their kids’ computer activity. Are computer ‘key stroke’ logging programs too invasive?

In Oregon, police say Benjamin Stribling was caught sending explicit e-mails to a 12-year-old girl, asking her to send him naked pictures of herself through a teen social network site. But it wasn't police who caught this alleged predator, it was the girl's parents, using this program installed on their home computer; a hidden program named SharpSpy that tracks a computer's every key stroke.

SharpSpy is one software program that allow users to see and log everything that happens on a single computer. Is using these programs a good thing, or can it be used for evil if put in the wrong hands?

The answer to both questions may be, “yes.”

“If I was going to install it on your computer, I could get all of your banking information, tax information, anything that you do on your computer. I now have it,” says Trogdor Nester, Chief Technology Officer for South Jordan-based PC Laptops.

Nester says the key-logging software is an Orwellian ‘Big Brother’ – allowing users to know things like whether a spouse is hiding funds or cheating, or whether employees are wasting company time by visiting inappropriate sites.

SharpSpy can record everything that goes on or comes off a Facebook or MySpace profile, internet dating sites activity, and even logs entire instant message chat sessions.

One of the key features of these key-logging software programs is stealth; they can be installed without leaving any kind of visible cyber-footprint. The programs reside very deep inside a computer’s Windows directory, and even the expert computer user would have a tough time detecting their presence.

SharpSpy is also designed to not be detected by virus scans, so if a user suspects they are being watched, they would have a tough time finding it.

Nester and PC Laptops CEO Dan Young say they see the bigger demand for programs like SharpSpy coming from those who use the program, maliciously.

But what if you could see if your son had a drug problem, or if your daughter had an eating disorder, or was being targeted by an online predator?

Draper resident and father Andy Boyce thinks having such programs available is a good idea, even though he trusts his teenage daughters to stay away from Internet trouble. “I trust our children, but it's kind of nice to know where they've been,” said Boyce.

Boyce gave SharpSpy a test run and said, “I think it's good to know everything that happens on that computer.”

His daughters disagree.

“I think if your parents don't trust you enough to and they have to follow your every move then they are not doing something right,” says 15-year-old Katie.

When it comes to parents using spy software to find out if a child has an emotional problem or may be in physical danger, Katie adds, "They don't have to be sneaking around because that would make me more mad if my parents didn't try to come to me about it first."

“I think it might be just to keep the parents informed about that kind of thing, but I still think it oversteps some boundaries,” says 17-year-old Jordyn.

The big question remains: how far should you go? Should you spy on your kids?

Family psychologist Adam Schwebach says maybe not.

“I've never had a case where I felt like it was absolutely necessary to use the technology,” said Schwebach. “Parents tend to damage their relationship with their child or adolescent when they start to send messages that they don't trust them. That's when things start to break down.”

Schwebach says computer spying can make a bad family situation even worse. As an alternative, he says the best remedy is trust and communication.

Dan Young agrees, “Good communication is better than the spyglass, always.”

If you decide you want to install SharpSpy, you can buy it online below:

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