According to McAfee’s Consumer Mobile Security Report, 80% of mobile 
apps today collect location information about users, 82% know the device
 ID, and 57% track when people use their phones.  Additionally, the apps
 that aggressively and often unnecessarily collect data leverage 
potentially dangerous ad libraries, and 35% of these apps contain 
malware.
“The personal data some apps collect can be beneficial to enhancing 
your mobile experience, however many apps are collecting more 
information than they need, putting your privacy and personal security 
at risk,” said Gary Davis, Vice President of consumer marketing at 
McAfee, part of Intel Security.“McAfee Mobile Security is empowering 
users by letting them know exactly what information their apps are 
accessing, and helps them safeguard their identity and personal 
information.”
McAfee Mobile Security’s privacy scan provides key intelligence about
 the apps users have installed on a smartphone or tablet.  The scan 
determines how much information each app is able to access and share, 
then ranks them by level of privacy sensitivity, while also checking for
 risky URL associations.  When an app behaves significantly different 
than others in its category, the level of risk is raised and reflected 
in its privacy sharing score. At the conclusion of the privacy scan the 
user can uninstall suspicious apps with one-click.  
The most worrisome permissions are apps that read users’ subscriber 
ID from their smartphones and tablets, anything that gets users’ precise
 location (as opposed to Wi-Fi network or cell tower), and anything that
 reads or tracks text messages that can contain private messages and 
information like online banking transaction authorisations.  To provide a
 deeper level of protection, the new version of McAfee Mobile Security 
instantly scans Android apps, files, SD cards and Internet downloads for
 malware using a method optimised for mobile to be light on resources 
and battery life. 
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