Legal Question in Technology Law in South Carolina

Invasion of Privacy

What steps do I need to take if I suspect that someone has installed some type of spy software on my PC?

This software may be providing them with all of my bank, credit card, and utility account numbers as well as with the passwords for those accounts. It also may be providing copies of my email. I am the owner of the PC in question and I have not given anyone permission to install any type of software.

Thank you.


Asked on 3/17/03, 3:38 pm

3 Answers from Attorneys

Ronald Cappuccio Ronald J. Cappuccio, J.D., LL.M.(Tax)

Re: Invasion of Privacy

You should download and install 2 programs. The first is Pest Patrol. It has a keyboard logger checker. The second program is lavasoft's adaware which tracks spy programs.

If this does not work, go to a computer professional.

I hope this helps!

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Answered on 3/17/03, 3:45 pm
Anthony DeWitt Bartimus, Frickleton Robertson & Gorny, PC

Re: Invasion of Privacy

Following up on Mr. Cappuccio's excellent technical advice, if you do find that someone has been spying on your computer, that is an invasion of privacy and probably violates federal laws. You may have a cause of action against both the manufacturer of whatever software was used in the attack on your computer, as well as the individual or organization that engaged in the attack (provided that can be proved). You should make every effort to get your computer into the hands of a computer forensic specialist who can do a thorough investigation and certify the existence of the software and the extent of the compromise of your information, and then you should seek out assistance from a private attorney to go about filing both civil and criminal charges if applicable.

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Answered on 3/17/03, 4:17 pm
Bruce Burdick Burdick Law Firm

Re: Invasion of Privacy

I would suggest another alternative program, Zone Alarm Pro 3.5 or higher, which can be set to alarm you about and allow control and blocking of both incoming and outgoing Internet messages, including both session cookies, persistent cookies, and 3rd party cookies to and from your computer. This will allow you to not only block the kind of messages of which you worry, but identifies the particular program that is seeking to send out such messages so that you can disable it or eliminate it. The program is very effective at eliminating pop-ups, since those are generally activated by cookies. On my computer, pop-up ads are only a very rare occurrence anymore now that I have Zone Alarm and there is no message going in or out to the Internet except those I have authorized. AdAware is good at cleaning your system of spyware, but ZoneAlarm allows much more sophisticated control so that you can install programs requiring installation of bundled spyware and then simply disable the spyware to prevent it from installing cookies or sending outbound messages.

This is not legal advice and you are not a client. It is merely some free computer software technical advice.

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Answered on 3/18/03, 1:16 am


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