Wife Scan and Location

[HM75]

I would like to know why the app is requesting my location settings to be switched on when I am trying to scan the wifi that I am connected to. I just feel that it is just another way for data collection to be done stealthily and an unnecessary intrusion.

[Tereza V.]

Hi, I guess you have Android 6 or higher, where this permission is needed, so that system can provide us further information about the Wi-Fi in question. Without this permission the app would not be able to perform the Wi-Fi scan and find out whether or not it is secure.

[HM75]

Yes, I do have android 9 but that still doesn't explain why you need to have the GPS active to scan when you are attached to Wifi - unless you are using it for stealth data collection. Where I am in the world has no bearing on the Wifi point that I am attached to.

[Tereza V.]

Well, to know what the Wi-Fi is called and get its details, we need a permission to get this information from the system. Everything is described in the articles below:

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/21391395/get-ssid-when-wifi-is-connected/47847947#47847947
https://developer.android.com/about/versions/pie/android-9.0-changes-all
https://developer.android.com/reference/android/net/wifi/WifiManager#getScanResults()

If you want to read more about what kind of data we gather and how we process them, please read this:
https://www.avast.com/privacy-policy