How phone tracking apps are turning youth into accidental spies

…It erodes trust, fuels digital piracy, hurts economy – Experts

Tech experts are noticing an unfolding but worrying development that may hurt the digital ecosystem.

According to them, Nigeria is drifting into a disturbing kind of digital insecurity as hidden tracking apps quietly spread among young people.

The growing trend is raising fears about loss of trust, invasion of privacy and possible damage to the country’s digital economy.

What started as simple tools for parents or employers has now turned into a widespread habit of secret monitoring, made easier by cheap apps, rising smartphone use and low awareness of digital safety.

At a youth digital-literacy forum in Lagos, Godwin Iheuwa, Digital Head at the Youth Orientation for Development (YOD) under the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), warned that Nigeria is sleepwalking into a surveillance culture.

According to him, tracking apps originally intended for parents or employers are now being casually deployed to access private messages, locations, calls and media, often without consent.

“We are normalising invasive behaviour without understanding its long-term consequences. Accessing someone’s private communication without consent is a crime, yet young people are doing it casually”, he said.

The warning gains traction when viewed against the country’s massive and growing digital footprint.

As of early 2025, there were about 107 million internet users, representing approximately 45.4% penetration of the total population. Many of these users rely exclusively on smartphones to go online, this transforms nearly every handset into a potential gateway for surveillance.

For millions of youth, digital life is not just social and recreational, it is economic. The country’s ICT sector contributed significantly to national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, reflecting how deeply the economy now depends on digital platforms.

Yet, even as opportunities expand, vulnerability grows alongside consumer-grade stalkerware and surveillance apps have become easier to acquire, often requiring only brief physical access to a target’s phone or simple sideloading.

According to the 2023 report by cybersecurity firm Kaspersky, considered one of the most authoritative trackers of mobile surveillance abuse, 31,031 smartphone users worldwide were confirmed to have been targeted by stalkerware in the previous year. Security experts further warned that this number may only represent the tip of the iceberg, since many victims never realise they are being monitored or are too ashamed to report it.

Back home, the impact is already visible. Young people at the Lagos forum described experiences ranging from boyfriends secretly installing tracking apps to check loyalty, to friends extracting private images from shared devices, to employers monitoring staff long after work hours.

Some said they now assume every device could have a hidden watcher. Others narrated how intimate messages or photos once meant for a private circle slipped into public view without consent, a mistake that quickly destroyed reputations and trust.

Iheuwa referenced the viral TikTok London Red Bus Lady episode as an illustration of how quickly private moments escalate into public humiliation when surveillance meets virality.

The problem, experts at the forum warned, goes beyond personal pain, it threatens the livelihoods of millions of young Nigerians pursuing careers online. Content creators, freelancers, influencers and gig-economy workers now depend on visibility to earn. But when privacy becomes fragile, when a single private video, a deleted message thread or a stolen screenshot can cost a career or open the door to blackmail, the risks to a country’s creatives and entrepreneurs are enormous. Digital-economy analysts noted that in a market where trust and reputation are currency, widespread surveillance abuse can erode not only individual opportunity but collective confidence in online platforms.

At the root of the crisis lies digital illiteracy. While the number of internet users climbs steadily and social media adoption has surged, many young Nigerians lack even basic understanding of metadata, digital footprints, content virality or privacy settings.

In 2024, for example, while there were roughly 103 million internet users, only about 36.75 million were active on social media showing that a significant portion of online users remain lurkers or first-time consumers unfamiliar with the risks of oversharing.

Without education, safeguards, and legal clarity, surveillance behaviour may become normalized with devastating consequences. Researchers studying mobile surveillance ware warned that many modern spyware variants are designed to evade conventional antivirus tools; they can hide in background processes, mimic legitimate apps, and periodically erase traces making detection difficult even for tech-savvy users.

International evidence further showed that technology-facilitated stalking and digital harassment are rising globally. A recent cyber-stalking study estimated that up to 7.5 million people worldwide experience tech-based stalking each year, and that 80% of all stalking victims report being tracked using digital tools in some form highlighting how pervasive and damaging the problem has become.

Faced with this reality, experts at the forum argued that the solution must be broad, urgent and multifaceted. Public education campaigns are needed to teach young people how to detect unwanted monitoring software and protect their digital accounts. Tech platforms and app stores should tighten policies and vetting procedures to block apps designed for unethical surveillance. Regulators, civil society and law enforcement agencies must recognise non-consensual monitoring as a legitimate threat, enforce existing laws and, where necessary, draft new regulations to penalize developers and distributors of stalkerware.

Iheuwa specifically urged the youth to adopt digital responsibility and treat artificial intelligence not as a threat but as a tool for empowerment, creativity and safe content creation. He pointed to recent initiatives such as the collaboration between Andela and Microsoft to run “Introduction to AI” courses , as models for building inclusive digital skills, not just technical proficiency but ethical awareness.

“The future belongs to those who use technology responsibly without endangering other people’s rights”, he said.