Domestic abuse law fails to recognise danger of tech abuse, Lords committee told

Policy adviser Jen Reed says tech-facilitated abuse has become ‘increasingly prevalent’ and calls for its inclusion in Domestic Abuse Act The Domestic Abuse Act fails to fully recognise the danger of technology-facilitated abuse, such as location tracking or hidden stalkerware, a Lords select committee has heard. Tech abuse has become “increasingly prevalent” and “very commonplace now within a domestic abuse context”, said Jen Reed, the head of policy at University College London’s Gender and Tech Research Lab, during an evidence session. Technology-facilitated abuse, or tech abuse, is the use of digital devices and platforms to harass, stalk, monitor, control and abuse an individual. Reed called for the inclusion of tech abuse in the statutory definition of domestic abuse. She said: “Tech abuse is just as devastating as physical abuse. The effects that we see on individuals, I cannot overstate enough how horrendous some of the cases are that we see. “We see stalkerware and spyware installed on people’s phones. We see a lot of [Apple] AirTags and tracking devices being sewn into children’s belongings or clothes during visitation orders, so that the child can be tracked back to thei