Technology
There may be stalking software on your Android phone – here’s how to remove it

Consumer-grade spy apps that secretly and always monitor your private messages, photos, phone calls and site in real time are a growing problem for Android users.
This guide will show you how to discover and remove popular monitoring apps from your Android phone, including TheTruthSpy, KidsGuard, and other apps.
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Consumer spy apps are sometimes sold under the guise of kid or family monitoring software, but are referred to as “stalkerware” and “spouseware” due to their ability to track and monitor partners or spouses without their consent. These spy apps are downloaded from outside the Google Play app store, installed on the phone without the person’s consent, and infrequently disappear from the house screen to avoid detection.
Stalkerware apps use built-in Android features which are typically utilized by firms to remotely manage worker work phones or use Android’s availability mode to spy on someone’s device.
You may notice that your phone is acting unusually, running hotter or slower than usual, or using loads of network data, even if you’re not actively using it.
Checking if your Android device has been tampered with can be done quickly and simply.
Before you begin
It’s vital to have a security plan and reliable support in the event you need it. Remember that removing spyware from your phone will likely alert the one that placed it, which could create a dangerous situation. The Coalition Against Stalkerware offers advice and guidance for victims and survivors of stalkerware.
Please note that this guide only helps you discover and remove spyware applications, and doesn’t remove data that has already been collected and uploaded to servers. Additionally, some versions of Android may have barely different menu options. As at all times with any advice, you follow these steps at your own risk.
Check your Google Play Protect settings
Make sure Google Play Protect, a security feature on Android phones, is turned on. Image credits: TechCrunch
Google Play Protect is among the finest anti-malicious app protections on Android, checking apps downloaded from the Google app store and third-party sources for signs of probably malicious activity. These protections stop working if you turn off Play Protect. It’s vital to turn on Play Protect to be certain that it’s working and scanning for malicious apps.
You can check whether Play Protect is enabled within the Play Store app settings. You may also scan for malicious applications in the event you have not already scanned.
Verify that Accessibility Services has not been affected
Stalkerware uses deep device access to access data and has been known to abuse Android Accessibility Mode, which by design requires more extensive access to the operating system and data for screen readers and other accessibility features to function.
Android users who don’t use apps or accessibility features mustn’t see any apps of their Android settings.
If you do not recognize the downloaded service in your accessibility options, you possibly can disable it in your settings and delete the app. Some stalkerware apps disguise themselves as normal-looking apps and are sometimes called “Accessibility”, “Device Status”, “System Service” or other innocuous-sounding names.

Android spyware often abuses built-in accessibility features. Image credits: TechCrunch
Check your access to notifications
Like accessibility features, Android also allows third-party apps to access and skim incoming notifications, corresponding to allowing smart speakers to read alerts aloud or display in-automotive notifications on the dashboard. Granting notification access to the Stalkerware app allows you to always monitor your notifications, including messages and other alerts.
You can check which apps have access to your notifications by checking your Android notification access settings under Special app access. You may recognize a few of these apps, corresponding to Android Auto. You can turn off notification access for any app you do not recognize.

Spyware uses access to notifications to read user messages and other alerts. Image credits: TechCrunch
Check if the device administration application is installed
Other features often abused by stalkerware include Android Device Administrator options, which give similar but even broader access to Android devices and user data.
Device administrator options are typically utilized by firms to remotely manage their employees’ phones, for instance to wipe the phone if the device is stolen to prevent data loss. But these features also allow stalkerware apps to spy on your Android display and device data.

An unrecognized item in your device’s admin app settings is a standard indicator that your phone has been compromised. Image credits: TechCrunch
You can find the device administrator app settings in Settings within the Security section.
Most people do not have a tool administration app on their personal phone, so be wary in the event you see an app you do not recognize with a similarly vague and confusing name, corresponding to “System Service,” “Device Health,” or “Device Administrator.”
Check for apps to uninstall
The icon for any of those stalkerware apps may not be visible on your home screen, but they are going to still appear within the app list on your Android device.
You can see all installed apps in Android settings. Look for apps and icons you do not recognize. These apps may also appear as having broad access to your calendar, call logs, camera, contacts, and site data.

Spyware applications are designed to mix in with generic-looking names and icons. Image credits: TechCrunch
Forcefully stopping and uninstalling a stalkerware application will likely notify the one that installed the stalkerware that the applying isn’t any longer working.
Secure your device
If you have got stalkerware installed on your phone, there may be a high likelihood that your phone has been unlocked, unprotected, or that the screen lock has been guessed or known. A stronger lock screen password can assist protect your phone from intruders. You also needs to protect your email and other online accounts by utilizing two-factor authentication when possible.
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Technology
One of the last AI Google models is worse in terms of safety

The recently released Google AI model is worse in some security tests than its predecessor, in line with the company’s internal comparative test.
IN Technical report Google, published this week, reveals that his Flash Gemini 2.5 model is more likely that he generates a text that violates its security guidelines than Gemini 2.0 Flash. In two indicators “text security for text” and “image security to the text”, Flash Gemini 2.5 will withdraw 4.1% and 9.6% respectively.
Text safety for the text measures how often the model violates Google guidelines, making an allowance for the prompt, while image security to the text assesses how close the model adheres to those boundaries after displaying the monitors using the image. Both tests are automated, not supervised by man.
In an e-mail, Google spokesman confirmed that Gemini 2.5 Flash “performs worse in terms of text safety for text and image.”
These surprising comparative results appear when AI is passing in order that their models are more acceptable – in other words, less often refuse to answer controversial or sensitive. In the case of the latest Llam Meta models, he said that he fought models in order to not support “some views on others” and answers to more “debated” political hints. Opeli said at the starting of this yr that he would improve future models, in order to not adopt an editorial attitude and offers many prospects on controversial topics.
Sometimes these efforts were refundable. TechCrunch announced on Monday that the default CHATGPT OPENAI power supply model allowed juvenile to generate erotic conversations. Opeli blamed his behavior for a “mistake”.
According to Google Technical Report, Gemini 2.5 Flash, which is still in view, follows instructions more faithfully than Gemini 2.0 Flash, including instructions exceeding problematic lines. The company claims that regression might be partially attributed to false positives, but in addition admits that Gemini 2.5 Flash sometimes generates “content of violation” when it is clearly asked.
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“Of course, there is a tension between (after instructions) on sensitive topics and violations of security policy, which is reflected in our assessment,” we read in the report.
The results from Meepmap, reference, which can examine how models react to sensitive and controversial hints, also suggest that Flash Gemini 2.5 is much less willing to refuse to reply controversial questions than Flash Gemini 2.0. Testing the TechCrunch model through the AI OpenRoutter platform has shown that he unsuccessfully writes essays to support human artificial intelligence judges, weakening the protection of due protection in the US and the implementation of universal government supervisory programs.
Thomas Woodside, co -founder of the Secure AI Project, said that the limited details given by Google in their technical report show the need for greater transparency in testing models.
“There is a compromise between the instruction support and the observation of politics, because some users may ask for content that would violate the rules,” said Woodside Techcrunch. “In this case, the latest Flash model Google warns the instructions more, while breaking more. Google does not present many details about specific cases in which the rules have been violated, although they claim that they are not serious. Not knowing more, independent analysts are difficult to know if there is a problem.”
Google was already under fire for his models of security reporting practices.
The company took weeks to publish a technical report for the most talented model, Gemini 2.5 Pro. When the report was finally published, it initially omitted the key details of the security tests.
On Monday, Google published a more detailed report with additional security information.
(Tagstotransate) Gemini
Technology
Aurora launches a commercial self -propelled truck service in Texas

The autonomous startup of the Aurora Innovation vehicle technology claims that it has successfully launched a self -propelled truck service in Texas, which makes it the primary company that she implemented without drivers, heavy trucks for commercial use on public roads in the USA
The premiere appears when Aurora gets the term: In October, the corporate delayed the planned debut 2024 to April 2025. The debut also appears five months after the rival Kodiak Robotics provided its first autonomous trucks to clients commercial for operations without a driver in field environments.
Aurora claims that this week she began to freight between Dallas and Houston with Hirschbach Motor Lines and Uber Freight starters, and that she has finished 1200 miles without a driver to this point. The company plans to expand to El Paso and Phoenix until the top of 2025.
TechCrunch contacted for more detailed information concerning the premiere, for instance, the variety of vehicles implemented Aurora and whether the system needed to implement the Pullover maneuver or the required distant human assistance.
The commercial premiere of Aurora takes place in a difficult time. Self -propelled trucks have long been related to the necessity for his or her technology attributable to labor deficiencies in the chairman’s transport and the expected increase in freigh shipping. Trump’s tariffs modified this attitude, not less than in a short period. According to the April analytical company report from the commercial vehicle industry ACT researchThe freight is predicted to fall this yr in the USA with a decrease in volume and consumer expenditure.
Aurora will report its results in the primary quarter next week, i.e. when he shares how he expects the present trade war will affect his future activity. TechCrunch contacted to learn more about how tariffs affect Auror’s activities.
For now, Aurora will probably concentrate on further proving his safety case without a driver and cooperation with state and federal legislators to just accept favorable politicians to assist her develop.
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At the start of 2025, Aurora filed a lawsuit against federal regulatory bodies after the court refused to release the appliance for release from the protection requirement, which consists in placing warning triangles on the road, when the truck must stop on the highway – something that’s difficult to do when there isn’t a driver in the vehicle. To maintain compliance with this principle and proceed to totally implement without service drivers, Aurora probably has a man -driven automotive trail after they are working.
(Tagstranslate) Aurora Innovation
Technology
Sarah Tavel, the first woman of the Benchmark GP, goes to the Venture partner

Eight years after joining Benchmark as the company’s first partner, Sarah Tavel announced that she was going to a more limited role at Hapeure Venture.
In his latest position as a partner Venture Tavel will proceed to invest and serve existing company boards, but may have more time to examine “AI tools on the edge” and fascinated with the direction of artificial intelligence, she wrote.
Tavel joined Benchmark in 2017 after spending a half years as a partner in Greylock and three years as a product manager at Pinterest. Before Pinterest, Tavel was an investor in Bessemer Venture Partners, where she helped Source Pinterest and Github.
Since its foundation in 1995, the benchmark intentionally maintained a small team of six or fewer general partners. Unlike most VC corporations, wherein older partners normally receive most of the management and profits fees, the benchmark acts as an equal partnership, and all partners share fees and returns equally.
During his term as a general partner of Benchmark, Tavel invested in Hipcamp on the campsite, chains of cryptocurrency intelligence startups and the Supergreaty cosmetic platform, which was purchased by Whatnot in 2023. Tavel also supported the application for sharing photos of Paparazhi, which closed two years ago, and the AI 11x sales platform, about which TechCrunch wrote.
(Tagstotransate) benchmark
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