5 Countries Where Keyloggers Are Legal

For those who may not know much about keyloggers, they seem to be something straight out of a movie about hackers. Malware that steals personal data from your devices — that’s how many see keyloggers. Although these programs can be used for malicious purposes, they can work for legitimate goals as well, such as employee and parental monitoring. The ethical use of keyloggers is legal in many countries.

In this article, I will explain what a keylogger is and where this software is legal and rather popular.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes and is not legal advice. I recommend consulting a legal expert before using keyloggers for any, even ethical, purpose.

What is a keylogger?

As the name says, a keylogger is a program or a device that records keystrokes on a computer or other device. However, modern keyloggers have outgrown their original functionality. Their feature sets include tracking visited websites, making screenshots, monitoring the user’s activity on social media and applications, and even recording video and sound from the webcam. Some ethical keyloggers like Spyrix have advanced features, such as streaming the user’s screen live, recording the screen, and providing analytics of the user’s activity. These capabilities make keyloggers powerful tools for the legitimate monitoring of employees and children.

Keyloggers are legal in many countries across the globe. In these five countries, they enjoy more popularity than in others.

United States

The U.S. law is a patchwork of state and federal statutes and regulations. While none directly address keyloggers, several acts regulate the scope of data organizations can collect and cases when possible. On the federal level, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (“ECPA”) passed in 1986 permits monitoring of spoken and electronic communications “in the ordinary course of business”. Employers can use keyloggers on company-owned devices to monitor employee activity, protect company assets, and ensure productivity. Employers can also ask for their employees’ consent for monitoring.

On the state level, employee monitoring software is generally allowed, however, three states oblige private employers to notify the staff before implementing internet use or communications monitoring. These states are Connecticut, Delaware, and California. In Connecticut and Delaware, employers may not notify employees only in one case: when monitoring serves to protect the employer from employee misconduct.

The California Consumer Protection Act (“CCPA”), passed in 2018, directs organizations to provide employees with a “Notice at Collection” at or before gathering their personal information, including network activity, browsing and search history, and interactions with websites, applications, or advertisements.

As for parental monitoring, no federal law prohibits tracking children with keyloggers. Parents can legally use keyloggers on devices they own and provide to their children to protect them and ensure their online safety.

India

In India, labor laws, the Information Technology Act of 2000, and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDP Act) govern keylogger usage for employee monitoring. Perhaps, the most important one here is DPDPA, enacted in August 2023. It is based on six principles: lawfulness, purpose limitation, data minimization, accuracy, storage limitation, and integrity and confidentiality. The Act gives individuals, or data principles, the right to access, rectify, erase, and restrict the processing of their data. Organizations as data fiduciaries must maintain security safeguards, ensure data accuracy, report breaches, erase data when required, and establish grievance redress mechanisms.

So, what does it mean for employee monitoring? Organizations are permitted to track their staff’s work-related activity, work time, and company-owned devices as long as there is a legitimate business purpose. They must limit data collection to the strictly necessary scope, notify employees about tracking, and undertake measures to protect the collected data.

Unlike keylogger use for employee monitoring, parental monitoring is not explicitly prohibited by any Indian law. Thus, parents can take the necessary measures to ensure their child’s security online.

Canada

Speaking about privacy in general, most Canadian provinces recognize a common law right to privacy, protecting the “biographical core” of personal information. However, what is meant by “biographical core” is yet to be clearly defined.

Canada has the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). It is the federal law regulating how private organizations can collect and use personal information for commercial activities. PIPEDA defines personal information as any data about an identifiable individual, such as name, social insurance numbers, medical history, pay records, attendance reports, electronic monitoring data, etc.

The Act applies to most businesses, nonprofits, and professional associations operating in Canada, with some exceptions for provinces with similar privacy laws, non-commercial activities of nonprofits, and some political organizations. According to PIPEDA, organizations must adhere to ten basic principles of data collection: accountability, identifying purposes, consent, limiting collection, limiting use, disclosure and retention, accuracy, safeguards, openness, individual access, and challenging compliance.

What does it mean for keyloggers in employee monitoring? While employers may generally use them, their use should be targeted, specific, and appropriate. Another regulation, the Working for Workers Act, introduced in 2022, obliges employers with 25+ employees to have a written monitoring policy they must disclose to employees.

Employers must also consider the privacy regulations of specific provinces. Namely, British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec have local privacy regulations.

The use of keyloggers for parental monitoring is not addressed in the Canadian legislation. Parents can use electronic monitoring methods to protect their children; however, their acceptability may vary depending on the child’s age. Monitoring of younger children is generally seen as more acceptable.

Spain

In terms of privacy regulations, Spain follows the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Although it does not address keyloggers and employee monitoring directly, it stipulates a set of rules for privacy and data collection. According to the regulation, there are seven core principles of data collection:

• Lawfulness, fairness, and transparency
• Purpose limitation
• Data minimization
• Accuracy
• Storage limitation
• Integrity and confidentiality
• Accountability

Under the GDPR, individuals have more control over their personal data. They have the following rights: to be informed, access, rectification, erasure, and data portability.

Before implementing any form of employee monitoring, organizations should obtain the staff’s consent for data collection and processing. Employees must be informed about what data is being collected and how it is stored and processed. The scope of collected information must be limited: it must be justified, necessary, and proportionate to the intended goal.

When employers follow these principles, they can implement the most forms of employee monitoring.

Speaking about parental control, parents can implement electronic methods of tracking. However, they are advised to respect their children’s privacy, especially teens.

Brazil

Brazil does not have specific laws addressing keyloggers. However, while using them for employee monitoring, organizations should not forget about applicable privacy regulations, particularly the LGPD.

The Lei Geral de Proteção de Dados (LGPD) is a comprehensive privacy law similar to the European GDPR. It applies to any processing of personal data in Brazil, regardless of where the data processor is located. Like GDPR, the Act grants individuals the right to be informed, access, rectify, erase, and object to data processing.

Under LGPD, organizations must obtain employees’ consent for monitoring and be transparent about what data is collected and why. They must collect personal information only for legitimate specific purposes, and the scope of monitoring must be proportionate to the intended goal. Employers must essentially take proper measures to protect collected information from misuse or leaking.

Keyloggers for parental monitoring are not explicitly prohibited by the law, which allows parents to use them at their discretion to ensure their child’s safety.

Final Thoughts

As we can see, keyloggers can be legal when they follow ethical principles and applicable privacy regulations. Parents and employers should focus on only the specific data that serves their goals, such as protecting their child or their assets from digital threats. Honesty and transparency are the best policies for both a parent and manager. This way, you will not only comply with the privacy regulation but also retain the trust of your child or your team.