Now, parents go digital snooping

Parents have found the perfect festive season gift for their teenagers — mobile phones with spyware. The newly launched spy software device can help parents to keep tabs on errant children.

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Called the "perfect spook" for parents, the spyware costs ₹2,300 and enables parents to track calls and text messages and trace the location of the phone.

Anita Aggrawal (name changed) recently gifted her 18-year-old daughter an MSM enabled handset. "I used to have sleepless nights about what she's getting up to, now I'm quite relieved," she said.

Mobile dealer Nafees Ahmed said there is a sudden demand for the device, "It's only been a month or so and I'm getting queries almost daily from parents."

Sushant Oberoi of a mobile store in CP, says, "I have been getting calls from parents for the past three months, the demand has increased."

Rashmi Barua (name changed) got a handset for her 16-year-old daughter just before Navratras. She says, "Now I don't have to store all her friends' numbers and call them up every half an hour to check where she is."

Sukhi Dahiya, a store dealer in Malviya Nagar said, "Last week a fanatic couple with two college-going daughters were ready to pay double for the software."

Teenagers, however, are not happy. Sonia Dutta, a class 12 student, says, "It's sad to learn that your own parents are spying on you. One of my friends didn't return home when she learnt that her dad had her traced. It's humiliating."