Bitdefender says an increasing number of Android apps request unnecessary permissions and use them to monitor the location of children without their parents’ consent

British children, says the anti-virus software firm, are particularly vulnerable.

In a recent Bitdefender study of more than 2,000 parents worldwide, it was found that more than 11 per cent of British children receive an Android device by their seventh birthday. Some receive their first by the time they’re five.

This, says Bitdefender, poses a risk of malware infections and SMS fraud targeting users who are still only learning to read.

Moreover, free apps that target small children – such as Kids ABC Games and Educational Puzzles – can track or access geo-locations without requesting parental approval.

Developers admit the games were created for children under eight, but also provide personal details to third parties.

“Why would an alphabet game require a child’s’ precise GPS and network location?” asks Catalin Cosoi, chief security strategist at Bitdefender. “Of course, it’s to make money by sending these details to aggressive third-party advertisers. Despite legislation and common sense, games for children still collect huge quantities of personal information about children without parental consent.”

Some educational apps for children, asserts Bitdefender, also try to access browsing history and leak the unique identifier of the device. The identifier can be used by developers, advertisers and analytics tools to track their behaviour across several apps.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Bitdefender says it has software to tackle this very problem.

To prevent children from accessing risky apps, parents can install Clueful, a free Bitdefender app for Android and iOS that identifies intrusive apps and shows users how these could abuse their personal information.