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New App Helps Cheaters Hide Calls, Text Messages

By Cynthia Hsu, Esq. on August 26, 2011 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

If you've been getting lucky with someone other than your partner or spouse, a new cheaters' app may be the app for you. "CATE" was released in the Android market last week and is already garnering good reviews.

The name of the app, CATE, is an acronym for "call and text eraser," according to WPTV-TV.

The app promises to live up to its name. It costs $2.99, and can store certain texts and calls within a password-protected system. This means that phone calls or messages you'd like to be kept private will remain locked away from prying eyes.

The application was developed by Florida man Phillip Immler, who is a policeman and a law student. He developed the application after seeing his friend go through a divorce after his wife hacked his phone, WPTV-TV reports.

He also noted that while serving as a police officer, he saw many domestic disputes that started from what one partner saw on the other's phone.

But, if your spouse or girlfriend checks your phone's messages, are they actually breaking the law and invading your privacy? Conceivably.

In many instances, there is a fine line between "acceptable" snooping around and breaking the law. In New Jersey, a court ruled that it was okay for a wife to use a GPS tracker to monitor the movements of her cheating spouse. After all, the GPS was only tracking his movements on public streets, where he would have little expectation of privacy.

It's arguable that a spouse would have more of a reasonable expectation of privacy in their phones. But, marriage comes with intermingling of assets. What if the spouse owns the cheating spouse's phone? Would looking through the phone be fine?

Legal questions aside, the cheater app is still not an all-encompassing solution for philanderers who are afraid of getting caught. CATE may help lock away your phone or text messages, but it certainly can't ward a spouse from hiring a personal investigator to get to the bottom of suspicious behavior.

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