Every day we use our mobile phones and PCs with the assumption that we aren’t being tracked, traced or spied upon by government agencies [Speak for yourself – Tinfoil hat ed]. Generally people are safe for the most part, but there CEOs or CIOs that use PCs daily – who are genuinely concerned about government surveillance.

If you fall into that category, or just curious about security, Amnesty International has released an application, Detekt, to scan your mobile phone or PC for any instance of spyware that might be operated by government agencies.

“Detekt is a free tool that scans your computer for traces of known surveillance spyware used by governments to target and monitor human rights defenders and journalists around the world. By alerting them to the fact that they are being spied on, they will have the opportunity to take precautions,” Amnesty International explains on its website.

The application is being released by Amnesty International, who worked with other agencies such as Privacy International, Digitale Gesellschaft and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), to get it off the ground.

The group says that it decided to launch the application as there have been an increase in the use of surveillance by government agencies, which has had a very big impact on the right to privacy and the right to freedom of expression.

“Governments are increasingly using dangerous and sophisticated technology that allows them to read activists and journalists’ private emails and remotely turn on their computer’s camera or microphone to secretly record their activities. They use the technology in a cowardly attempt to prevent abuses from being exposed,” said Marek Marczynski, Head of Military, Security and Police at Amnesty International.

With Detekt, Amnesty International hopes that it will create awareness among PC users about government surveillance and spyware, and how they can better protect themselves from being spied on.

“We also hope that by knowing more about the dangers of these technologies more people will join Amnesty International in calling for stricter controls on their international trade to stop their use in violation of the right to privacy, freedom of expression and other human rights.”

If you would like to download the desktop application, click here.

We have downloaded, installed and ran the application, and we have some mixed feelings about it. We don’t know if we should be relieved or disappointed, but according to Detekt, we are not being spied on by the government.

[Source – Amnesty International, Via – The Guardian, image – CC by 2.0/Kit]