Amnesty International has developed a tool that will scan your computer or mobile device and let you know if someone is trying to spy on you.

Detekt looks for surveillance spyware - some of which is used by governments - that can do things like read your emails, turn on your camera or record your keystrokes.

It's designed specifically for journalists and human rights activists, but that doesn’t stop anyone from using to check if they are being spied on.

"This is the first time there's been something that's freely available for normal people to check if their computer has been compromised," Amnesty spokeswoman Harriet Garland told Mirror Online.
GCHQ was revealed to be spying on UK citizens by Edward Snowden (
Image:
Reuters)

"Governments are increasingly using dangerous and sophisticated technology” to snoop on activists and journalists, according to Amnesty International’s Marek Marczynski. "They use the technology in a cowardly attempt to prevent abuses from being exposed."

Detekt is a a simple tool to let people work out if their devices are being monitored so that they can take action.

"It represents a strike back against governments who are using information obtained through surveillance to arbitrarily detain, illegally arrest and even torture human rights defenders and journalists," added Marczynski.

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The surveillance industry is big business and is estimated to be worth around $5 billion per YEAR - a figure that’s growing.

Surveillance technologies are often developed in Europe and USA and then sold to countries that are known to commit human rights violations.

German firm FinFisher, for example, developed a piece of spyware used to snoop on Skype conversations, record microphone use and take screenshots and photos from the device’s camera.

The FinSpy software was then used to spy on human rights lawyers and activists in Bahrain.

"Even if you’re not worried about surveillance in the UK - where many people accept that it’s the status quo - you should be worried about activists in other countries where mass surveillance could land them with a prison sentence," said Garland.

The tool was developed by a German security researcher called Claudio Guarnieri along with Amnesty, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Privacy International and Digitale Gesellschaft.

You can download Detekt here.