Norton Spot | Free and Easy Way to Protect Your Mobile Device Privacy

I’m a sucker for letting my children play with my android cell phone. Often times, when dealing with long waits at a store or doctor’s office I will even let them download some new free apps. Unfortunately, because of my lack of concern about what they download, I’m now dealing with annoying ads on my cell phone.

I used to think ads were only a problem on the computer, you know from viruses and stuff.

Recently, I learned about Madware.

What is Madware?

Madware, or aggressive mobile adware, uses aggressive techniques to place advertising in your Android device’s photo albums, calendar entries and push messages to your notification bar.

Fact: Norton recently analyzed 1.5 million apps and saw a 210 percent increase in the number of apps including Madware.

How I fixed the problem

Norton has a new program out called Norton Spot, it’s a free Android download from the Google Play Store. Norton Spot works by scanning your apps to let you know which ones may contain an advertising network or contains privacy issues.

With these seemingly harmless downloads can come madware (mobile adware) and it proves to be the Trojan Horse of Android’s security. Linking itself to common apps like Angry Birds, Sam’s Club and Flashlight, madware gains access to your personal information, location, settings, and frequently delivers advertising inappropriately.

The results of my scan showed a few culprits that I wasn’t aware of, including Angry Birds, Bad Piggies, MyFitnessPal, PicsPlay and even the QR Barcode Scanner.

Here are some tips to avoid Madware when downloading new Android Apps:

– Before installing a new mobile app, make sure you read the fine print and know what all the app will have access to on your smartphone.

If you have an Android phone, be sure to download Norton Spot app from the Google Play Store. The app is free and works as a great tool to keep your privacy safe.

I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Norton.
I received a promotional item as a thank-you for participating.