Earlier this year, “Jennifer” came into my office. She related to me that during their ten-year marriage, her husband, “Sean”, became more and more controlling. He managed all their money and only provided her an allowance despite being fully employed and contributing to a checking account titled solely in Sean’s name. He demanded to know all her passwords to her social sites, her cell phone, and computer.
Although Jennifer never suffered from depression, she began taking anti-depressants over the past two years. After presenting evidence of Sean’s affair with his mistress to him, he agreed to move out.
Jennifer relayed to me that Sean has been gaslighting her. She went to Tyson’s Corner to do some shopping for their boys and when she went out to her vehicle, Sean was in his car next to her vehicle demanding to know what she bought. Another time Jennifer met some friends at a restaurant and when she walked in, Sean was sitting at the bar.
Did you know that Alexa has a drop-in feature? Before Sean moved out, he programmed Alexa through the app so he could listen in to everything that was being said in the house. That is how Sean knew about the restaurant because he heard Jennifer’s phone conversations with her friends. Sean also put a GPS tracker on her vehicle allowing him to track where she went.
Do your children have iPhones? If so, does your spouse know their username and password? If the answers are, “yes” than your spouse can see all communications you are having on your children’s Apple devices.
Do not think that if you have an android you are out of the woods. There are a many apps that can be secretly placed on your cell phone that will allow your spouse to track your movements, check your call logs and text messages, as well as your social media sites.
If your intuition is telling you something is wrong, and your spouse is accusing you of being paranoid, get your electronic devices and your vehicle checked out.
Alanna C. Williams is a partner in the Fairfax Firm of Cook Craig & Francuzenko PLLC. Her practice focuses on domestic relations and family law. You can connect with her on Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/alanna-williams-bb57b23/)
