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AVG Mobilation Windows Phone app” />Microsoft is investigating a new AVG antivirus app for Windows Phone 7 after complaints that the app was collecting location info and wasn’t providing any useful service.
It’s probably not as bad as the Android apps that actually contained malware, but given that Microsoft is supposed to be screening apps more closely (Google doesn’t screen Android apps at all), this is kind of a black eye.
Yesterday, Rafael Rivera posted a scathing takedown of the app on his blog, noting that it doesn’t scan for malware at all — all it does is look for test strings and a string of Hebrew characters. (AVG is based in Israel.) Rivera pointed out that no malware for Windows Phone 7 even exists yet, and that the app looked to be a quick and dirty port from Android.
It gets worse. Former Microsoft employee Justin Angel tweeted:
Unbelievable! WP7 “AVG Anti-virus” is actually spyware! It uses Geo Location to track users from app startup
He then posted code that seems to prove it.
Microsoft’s head of Windows Phone developer relations, Brandon Watson, said he was looking into it, and a spokesperson confirmed the investigation to WinRumors.
At least the app is free.
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