#AVAST BLOCKING SITES THAT ARE SAFE OFFLINE#
Fear-mongering: Many of these apps try scare tactics, focusing on online and offline threats and what could happen to kids, such as cyberbullying, access to inappropriate content, and predators.Checking the app usage of the owner of the deviceĪvast’s analysis found that messaging used by stalkerware apps to rationalize their use included:.Remotely controlling the smartphone and blocking websites or apps from being used on the phone.Monitoring web browsing and access navigation history, accessing the microphone in the background to record noises or conversations.Monitoring different social media platforms.Accessing multimedia files such as pictures, videos, audios.Monitoring and recording calls, as well as seeing call logs and deleted logs.These apps position themselves as serving a greater good and promise to help keep kids safe from online dangers by: Transparency and open conversations are key.”Īvast’s analysis showed that all nine of these solutions promise parents can monitor children without them knowing for “the price of a daily cup of coffee”. Children have a fundamental right to privacy and independence as well, and staying informed about your child’s online activities is important and requires consent.
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Creating a safe environment for your child starts with trust and while parental controls can be helpful, stalkerware is not the answer. Unfortunately, these apps are preying on parents’ fears of protecting their children. With this study, we took a closer look at the messaging used by these apps to understand the psychological tools they use to attract users. While stalkerware is sometimes targeted at jealous partners for spying on their spouse and for employers to spy on their staff, the findings show that all of the apps target parents to secretly monitor their children’s online behaviour.Īs Avast’s CISO, Jaya Baloo, said, “Stalkerware can be installed on somebody’s phone without their consent to stealthily monitor their communications activities, which we consider highly unethical. Prague, Czech Republic, Febru– Avast (LSE:AVST), a global leader in digital security and privacy products, and member of the Coalition Against Stalkerware, carried out an analysis of the advertising messaging and positioning used by the top nine most used stalkerware apps detected by Avast’s antivirus within its user base.