• Kaspersky’s Android app will now warn you if it detects stalkerware or unfamiliar devices in your vicinty.
• The feature gives you a look at this information through a single pane of glass.
• The Android app also tries to encourage users to take their security more seriously.

Are you worried that somebody is watching you? Kaspersky has an app for that now.

Who’s Spying on Me is a new feature Kaspersky has added to its Android mobile apps. The feature is able to detect stalkerware as well as whether suspicious devices are following you around. All of this information is compiled into a single pane of glass for users to easily see if they are being followed online or in real life through the used of Bluetooth gadgets.

The launch of Apple’s Airtags emboldened a wave of stalking incidents as folks could hide the tag on a person or in their possessions in order to follow them home. Apple has tried to fix this problem, but there are now many different types of tracking devices floating around made by manufacturers with less concern than Apple about user safety.

The Who’s Spying on Me feature includes the following:

• A stalkerware scanner that detects spying apps and software that can access the person’s messages, emails, photos, contacts, phone call history, and geolocation, which may have been secretly installed on the smartphone. This functionality is now available in the free version of the app.
• A device scanner that discovers Bluetooth trackers within a 100-meter radius (accounting for physical barriers that may weaken the radio signal), such as a wireless tag planted in a car by a perpetrator allegedly planning to steal it.
• Risk assessment. All detected Bluetooth devices are classified (e.g. airtags, smart tags or other BLE tags, etc.), and suspicious devices are flagged. For instance, a device with a static MAC address that continuously changes its location along with the object, and has high signal strength, will be flagged as suspicious.
• Permission control, notifying users about installed apps that are allowed to use a smartphone’s camera, microphone, and location services. This aims to draw extra attention to user privacy and help them manage the relevant settings mindfully.

“Kaspersky has been at the forefront of the fight against stalkerware, and we were the first in the industry to warn users about third-party tracking of this type. As digital violence evolves, especially with emerging tracking technologies, we understand that our users need extended protection. We are continuously developing our products with a user-focused approach and have expanded the functionality of our mobile app in order to protect users from digital stalking, including its offline formats, which can be very dangerous,” comments Marina Titova, VP, Consumer Product Marketing at Kaspersky.

“Moreover, our team continues to work on further improvements to the functionality of our mobile solutions, to be introduced next year, for an even better user experience and the protection of users’ digital lives,” she adds.

As mentioned, this feature is only available on Kaspersky’s Android app with no mention of whether the functionality will come to Apple and Huawei devices.

We should point out that if a person is using an Apple Airtag to track you, both Apple and Android devices will warn you that you are being stalked. Users will get the message that an item is moving with you if such a device is detected nearby that isn’t familiar to your device.