Android Antivirus apps Struggle to Detect Stalkerware

New testing by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and AV-Comparatives shows big differences in how well Android antivirus apps find stalkerware.Some popular apps missed nearly half of the spyware tested.

the tests were done in August and September 2025. They show some companies are getting better, but others still leave users open to digital spying and abuse.

Stalkerware is often sold as a way to track kids or employees. but it lets someone secretly watch a person’s texts, calls, location, photos, and what apps they use. It’s often used in abusive relationships. Usually,someone needs to physically get the device to install the spyware. Then, it hides and sends data to a remote server, and it can be hard to remove.

The companies that make these tools take advantage of legal loopholes. Selling the software might be legal in some places, but installing it without someone’s permission is usually illegal. These companies often say the buyer should tell the device owner, but their software is made to be hidden. Past data breaches, including those at SpyX, Cocospy, and Spyic, have also exposed people’s private information, making this a bigger security issue.

Google Play Protect Fails

The EFF, a digital rights group, and AV-Comparatives, an antivirus testing company, tested 13 mobile security products against 17 real stalkerware samples. Malwarebytes was the only app that found all 100% of the spyware. Bitdefender, ESET, Kaspersky, and McAfee did well too, each finding 94% of the samples.

Google Play Protect,the security built into Android phones,only found 53% of the samples – the lowest score of all the apps tested. trend Micro and G data also didn’t do well.