If you happen to be rocking to the AVG Virus Scanner on a Windows Phone 7 smartphone, might you be a little bit more cautious as we bring you word that the AVG Virus Scanner for Microsoft’s mobile platform has been pulled. The reason behind that? Privacy invasion. It seems as though AVG decided that users aren’t that savvy enough at the moment, hence injecting some spyware into their software package which ironically, claims it protects users from spyware and other forms of malicious software. How did this devious it of programming come into the light? Read on after the jump to find out more.
Former Microsoft Employee @JustinAngel decided he had some spare time on his hands, and went ahead to tinker around with the AVG application only to stumble upon the can of digital worms. Simply put, JustinAngel realized that the AVG code contained instructions to collect user coordinates, e-email addresses, device information, mobile carrier, and OS version among others, sending all of this information back to AVG.
This kind of news is not going to do Windows Phone any good, as it certainly brings Microsoft’s certification process into question. Hopefully something like this does not occur in the future, or the proper preventive steps and measures can be taken.