A woman’s intrusive tactic to spy on her partner has sparked conversation online about the lengths some people go to in order to put their trust issues to rest.
TikToker Abby Paige suggested she monitored her partner’s internet activity thanks to an app that allowed her to see what they were up to online.
It all began with a video captioned “like i know what youre doin stink” that shows Abby smirking with an on-screen text that reads, “when their phone is always hidden from you but they’re connected to your wifi.” Demonic laughter can be heard in the background, too.
Image credits: abby.paige
"When their phone is always hidden from you but they’re connected to your wifi," TikToker Abby Paige wrote
The intriguing six-second clip, viewed almost 700,000 times, piqued users’ curiosity, making Abby upload a follow-up video explaining her strategy in greater detail.
In the next clip, the young woman claimed that her Xfinity WiFi service can be set up to track what other users are doing on the network. “I did this on accident, I didn’t even mean to do it,” she admitted.
Abby continued by sharing her phone’s screen with the Xfinity app open. As she revealed, the app allows her to assign a wifi-connected device to a specific user.
The TikToker showed she had her home’s smart TV and Xbox assigned.
Abby's video raised concerns about the ethical issues of monitoring someone's behavior
Image credits: Drazen Zigic
Image credits: Firmbee
Then, she went to the “manage 1 person” part of the app, and demonstrated how she was able to view the user’s most used apps (in the case shown on screen, it was Instagram and X), how much time they’d been on them, the peak hours of app use, and total wifi use time.
However, Xfinity’s Sherlock Holmes resources are limited, as the company has confirmed their services can’t be used to track a person’s history through a router or modem.
“The only way to see your complete browsing history would be through the ‘History’ or ‘Security’ settings tab on the individual [internet] browsers used,” they wrote on a blog post.
As she explained in a follow-up clip, she uses the Xfinity WiFi app, which allows her to assign a wifi-connected device to a specific user
Image credits: abby.paige
Additionally, anyone with administrator-level capabilities can change settings in the Xfinity app, restricting users to specific times of the day or night.
People had mixed feelings about Abby’s anti-cheating technique, with some raising ethical concerns about spying on someone’s online behavior, and others labeling her an “MVP.”
“I’d be outta there so quick. Not cause I’m not loyal but because I refuse to be in a relationship with no trust,” someone wrote.
“Some of yall asking how to do it in the comment section, like yall need to be leaving that person if you feel the need to do this…” another person said.
A third person agreed, “if a man lost my trust this hard you better believe I'm leaving. I'm not going to invade his privacy. I'm not babysitting anyone.”
The app lets her know the user’s most used social media apps, how much time they’ve been on them as well as the peak hours of app use and total wifi use time
Image credits: abby.paige
“I did this on accident, I didn’t even mean to do it,” Abby said
“This isn’t a flex. HELLA invasion of privacy & just flat out psychotic…how do u do it please,” someone else joked.
Recently, another case of technology being employed for detective purposes came to light when a woman found out her husband had been unfaithful after an Airbnb host shared a security camera photo of the married guest with another woman.
The “superhost” apparently decided to take vengeance after the man, Shawn Mackey, violated the house’s strict no-party rule and left a negative review about the property.
Mackey then filed a lawsuit against the host and Airbnb, alleging “extreme emotional distress” and “public humiliation” due to the incident.
Many people considered Abby's anti-cheating tactic to be too extreme
