Hacked, leaked, exposed: Why you should never use stalkerware apps

The report documents a persistent problem of breaches and accidental data exposures at stalkerware vendors: at least 26 companies since 2017 have leaked or had stolen customer and victims’ sensitive phone data (messages, photos, call logs, locations), with some incidents affecting thousands or millions of people. It highlights recurring technical lapses (misconfigured S3 buckets, leaked credentials), repeated hacking events, the ethical and legal harms of stalkerware, some company shutdowns and regulatory actions, and calls for avoiding these insecure surveillance products.