MCPOTA Spygone

MCPOTA Spygone Privacy Policy

Effective October 31, 2026 · App ID com.mcpota.spotsy · Published by MCPOTA (mcpota.com) · Arx Dominii Privati

This policy covers the MCPOTA Spygone app for Android ("Spygone", "the app"; formerly called MCPOTA Privacy Watch). The iPhone version, now in testing, works differently and is covered in Spygone for iPhone. "We" and "us" mean MCPOTA, its publisher.

What the app does

Spygone shows you which apps on your phone access your location, microphone, camera, contacts, text messages, call log, calendar, clipboard and photos, which internet addresses they look up, and how much data they send and receive in the background. It reports what was observed, not what an app did with what it accessed: it never sees the content of app traffic. It then helps you change permissions or remove apps you don't want.

For apps MCPOTA has reviewed, the app also shows what the app's privacy policy allows the company to do with your data, with the policy's own words. Grades are MCPOTA's analysis of the policy's quoted text under published rules, not a finding about the company's conduct. The whole policy database ships inside the app, so looking an app up never contacts anyone. Where a reviewed policy makes a specific promise, such as that the app doesn't access your microphone, Spygone compares that promise with what it observed on your phone and shows a possible policy breach if they don't match. That comparison also happens only on your phone; nothing about it is sent anywhere.

While monitoring, Spygone can show alerts as notifications on your phone when an app you installed accesses something sensitive while you're not using it, sends data shortly after, or does something its reviewed privacy policy says it doesn't. Alerts are made on your phone from the same information described below; nothing about them is sent anywhere. On a locked phone an alert shows only that there is new app activity; which app and what it did appear after you unlock. You choose which kinds alert in Settings → Notifications → Alerts, and Android's notification settings can turn them off.

Information the app reads on your phone

To do that, the app reads the following information from Android. It is processed and stored only on your device.

The app records that an app used a permission or contacted an address, and when. Spygone records how much each app sends, not what it sends. It does not read the content of your messages, calls, calendar, contacts, photos, files, clipboard, notifications, recordings or web pages. It does not read motion sensors either; apps can read those without a permission, and Android doesn't record which app did, so Spygone can't show it.

The local VPN

Android shows a key icon while Spygone is monitoring because the app uses Android's VPN feature. This VPN:

• runs on your phone only, and does not route your traffic through any outside server;
• handles only DNS lookups (the step where an app turns a name like example.com into an address). All your other traffic goes directly to the internet as usual;
• passes each lookup on to your network's own DNS servers, the same servers your phone uses without Spygone, and nowhere else. They see the name being looked up, just as they would without Spygone;
• cannot see the content of web pages or app traffic.

Monitoring runs until you stop it. If it was on when Spygone updates, it starts again by itself after the update (and after a restart, if you turned on Auto-reconnect after restart).

Optional advanced access

Some features need a higher level of access that Android only grants through Wireless debugging (or the Shizuku app). If you set this up, Spygone connects to your own phone over that local connection. It uses the connection to:

• read permission-use history;
• refresh Android's per-app network counters every 30 seconds while monitoring, so it can record how much each app sent and when (amounts only);
• make changes you ask for and agree to (see the next section), and switch Usage access on for Spygone itself;
• run Banking mode (see the next section);
• if you turn on Auto-reconnect after restart, get Android's secure-settings permission once, so Spygone can switch Wireless debugging back on after a restart.

Nothing obtained this way leaves your phone.

What the app can change on your phone (when you tap Fix it, Banking mode or similar and agree, or set it up in advance)

Except for two things you set up in advance, each change below happens only after you tap a button, see what it will do and what it may affect, and confirm: (1) Automatic Banking mode, once you turn it on and pick apps, switches Wireless debugging (and Developer options, if you chose) off and on by itself as those apps open and close; (2) Auto-reconnect after restart, once you turn it on, switches Wireless debugging back on after a restart, on Wi-Fi you trust. Most changes need advanced access.

Every change except an uninstall and the Usage access switch can be undone from the app, and you can also reverse any of them in Android's Settings. Spygone keeps a record of each fix until you undo it, so Undo keeps working. Fixes stay in place if you uninstall Spygone, so undo the ones you want reversed first.

What is stored, and for how long

Spygone keeps its operational data for up to 30 days. Size limits can trim the logs sooner in extreme cases. The exceptions are listed below.

App data is excluded from Android cloud backups and from phone-to-phone transfers when you set up a new phone, so your history stays on the phone where it was recorded. Uninstalling Spygone deletes everything it stored, except reports and troubleshooting logs you saved to Downloads.

When information leaves your phone

Only when you take one of these actions:

• Email report: the app opens your email app with the report attached. The report lists app names, domains and activity from the period you chose. You choose the recipients and press Send yourself. After that, the email is handled by your email provider and the people you send it to.
• Send feedback: in ⚙ Settings → Help, Send feedback opens your email app addressed to beta@mcpota.com with a few questions for you to answer. The app fills in only the Spygone version, the Android version and your phone model; nothing else from your phone is added. You read the email and press Send yourself. MCPOTA uses it only to improve Spygone.
• Send logs to MCPOTA support: after telling you what's in it, the app opens your email app with a log attached, addressed to support@mcpota.com. It contains your phone model and Android version, the app's status, the list of apps on your phone (package names, whether each came with the phone, and which store installed it) and which of them accessed the microphone, camera, location, contacts, texts, call log, calendar or other data and when, background data use, how much each app sent and when (amounts only), fixes made, and the error and crash logs. If advanced access is on, it also includes Android's recent records of microphone use, the camera service's log of when the camera was opened and closed, and Android system log lines filtered to Spygone, crashes and the VPN. It contains no messages, photos, passwords, call content or browsing history. You read the email and press Send yourself. MCPOTA stores the log privately, uses it only to diagnose and fix problems (including an automated diagnosis by Anthropic's Claude AI, under terms that don't allow it to be used for training), never copies your email address alongside it, and deletes it within 30 days.
• Report a false alarm: see "False-alarm reports" below.
• Send evidence to MCPOTA (on an app's page, under Report this app): after showing you what's in it and asking three separate questions, the app opens your email app with a text file attached, addressed to reports@mcpota.com. The file covers that one app only: what Spygone recorded it doing over the last 30 days (when it accessed your data, the internet names it looked up, how much it sent, whether it was open), its privacy-policy quotes and MCPOTA grade, your phone model, Android version and security patch level, the app's and Spygone's versions, a method sheet, and the permissions you chose. It contains nothing about other apps and no messages, photos, passwords or contents. The three permissions, each off unless you tick it: (1) include it in complaints MCPOTA files with the FTC, counted and never named; (2) include it in reports MCPOTA makes to Google Play; (3) share it with an outside attorney MCPOTA works with, to review whether the app's behaviour matches what it promised (this doesn't make MCPOTA or the attorney your lawyer, and the attorney may ask MCPOTA to contact you, which you can refuse). You press Send yourself. MCPOTA replies with a case number. It keeps the package privately (in MCPOTA's Google Workspace: the email, the original file locked against changes, and a case record that holds a one-way code instead of your email address), with its fingerprint and a record of who handled it, until you ask for deletion, and uses it only as you allowed. To withdraw a permission or delete the package, reply with "WITHDRAW FTC", "WITHDRAW GOOGLE", "WITHDRAW COUNSEL" or "DELETE" and your case number, from the same email address (or write to reports@mcpota.com). Anything already counted in a filing stays as a number in that filing, without your details.
• Send to MCPOTA for review (on the Summary screen): if you'd like MCPOTA to look at an app's privacy policy, you pick which apps to include (none is picked for you). The app then shows you exactly what will be in the email, and only after you confirm does it open your email app with two files attached, addressed to reports@mcpota.com: a PDF and a JSON (data) file. For each app you picked they hold its name and package name, the lines Spygone showed for it (what it observed over the last 24 hours), and MCPOTA's policy grade for it with the quoted policy clauses and what they mean, plus the dates covered, the Spygone version and the date the email was made. They contain nothing about apps you didn't pick, no raw activity records, no messages, photos, passwords or contents. You can change or delete anything in the email, and nothing is sent until you press Send yourself. Spygone writes the two files to its private cache so your email app can attach them, and deletes the previous ones the next time you use this; they are also cleared with other reports (see "What is stored"). MCPOTA uses what you send only to review the privacy-policy concerns you reported, may use AI tools to help under terms that don't allow training on it, doesn't sell or share it, keeps it until the review is finished and then deletes it; write to privacy@mcpota.com to have it deleted sooner.
• Export all recorded activity: in ⚙ Settings → Your data, after telling you what's in it, Spygone makes one file (a .zip) on your phone holding everything it recorded in the last 30 days: each time an app accessed your data, the internet names apps looked up, and how much each app sent (amounts only), as JSON and CSV, plus a manifest with your phone model, Android version and the files' SHA-256 fingerprints. It contains no messages, photos, passwords or contents. Nothing is sent: you choose to share it (Android's share menu) or save a copy to Downloads › Spygone. A copy you share or save is outside Spygone's control and isn't deleted by Spygone; the copy kept in app storage expires with your other reports (up to 30 days).
• Prepare an FTC complaint: the app copies a draft complaint (what was observed and the policy's own words) to your clipboard and opens the FTC's reporting site. You edit and submit it yourself; Spygone sends nothing.
• Exploited-holes list (automatic, Android): twice a day, while protection is on or when you open the app, Spygone downloads mcpota.com/spygone/exploited.json, a public list MCPOTA builds from Google's Android Security Bulletins and the US government's CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. The request contains nothing about you, your phone or your apps; everyone downloads the same file, and the comparison with your phone happens on your phone. As with any website, the site's host sees your internet address and when the file was downloaded. Turn it off in ⚙ → Update alerts.
• Upload logs (test builds only, not the Google Play version): opens a GitHub page in your browser where you choose whether to upload a troubleshooting log for review.
• Copy: copying logs puts them on your clipboard so you can paste them where you choose.
• Check for updates (test builds only, not the Google Play version): after you allow it and type a tester access code, the app asks MCPOTA's builds server (run on Cloudflare) whether a newer test build exists each time you open it, and downloads it only when you tap Update now. It sends the access code and the request, nothing the app recorded. Cloudflare sees your internet address, as any website does. Android's own installer asks you to confirm. The downloaded file is deleted the next time the app opens. Turn it off in ⚙ → Turn off the update check.

False-alarm reports

If you think something was flagged by mistake, you can tap Not a concern? Report a false alarm. Spygone then stops flagging it on your phone. If you also choose Hide and share, your email app opens with a short report addressed to support@mcpota.com. It contains what was flagged and facts about that app: its name, package, version, where it was installed from, the permissions it requested and was granted, and its services, plus your phone model and Android version. It also includes the lines Spygone showed for that finding: which kinds of access happened, how often and when, how much the app sent, how many web addresses it looked up, and the names of any ad or analytics services it contacted. It contains no messages, photos, contacts or browsing, and you see it before pressing Send.

We use these reports only to improve how Spygone detects problems. We may review them with the help of AI tools for that purpose. We don't use them for anything else, and we delete them once they've been reviewed.

Subscriptions

Purchases open when Spygone launches on Google Play. If you subscribe to Spygone Pro, the purchase is handled by Google Play. We never see your payment card or billing details. Google Play tells the app only whether your subscription is active. Google's handling of purchases is covered by Google's Privacy Policy.

What we never do

• We never sell or rent data, including anything you choose to send us.
• We don't show ads, and we include no advertising or analytics code.
• We don't build profiles of you or the apps you use.
• We don't upload your activity, contacts, location or any other personal information.

Your choices

• Stop monitoring at any time from the app, or by turning off the VPN in Android settings.
• Delete everything Spygone has recorded with ⚙ → Clear recorded events: app activity and history, saved reports, the uninstalled-apps list, saved app names, policy-grade changes, and the error and crash logs. It keeps your fixes (so Undo still works), your settings and plan, findings you chose to hide, and the app's update history. Logs alone can be cleared with ⚙ → Logs → Clear.
• Undo any fix from the app (the app's timeline, or the Fixed list) whenever you like.
• Turn off Usage access or advanced access in Android settings whenever you like.
• Uninstall the app to remove all of its data.

Children

Spygone is not directed at children under 13 and does not knowingly collect information from anyone, of any age.

Security

Except reports and troubleshooting logs you save to Downloads, your data stays in the app's private storage, which other apps can't read. When you choose to email a report, support log, false-alarm report or review request, email apps on your phone (and only email apps) can read that one file so it can be attached; Spygone takes that access back after 6 hours. The app sends nothing to us on its own, so there is no server copy of what it records. Emails you choose to send us are kept privately and deleted as described above.

Spygone for iPhone

iPhones don't let one app see what other apps do, so the iPhone version has no monitoring, no VPN and no fixes it makes itself. It reads the App Privacy Report that iOS keeps (Settings → Privacy & Security → App Privacy Report) when you save it and share it to Spygone, or open a saved copy. That report lists, for the last 7 days, which apps accessed your camera, microphone, location, contacts, photos and similar, and which internet domains they contacted. It does not contain what apps sent.

• Read on your phone, in memory. The report is read on your phone and shown while the app is open. Its contents are not stored: the copy iOS hands to the app is deleted as soon as it has been read.
• What is stored on your phone: whether you finished setup, the date you said you turned App Privacy Report on, the date of the last report you shared (its newest entry, so the app can tell you when it is 7 or more days old), whether the weekly reminder is on, whether the restart reminder is on, which screen to show after a report is read (and, if you choose Last used, which tab you had open last), your appearance choice (match the phone, light or dark), which app version last showed the opening screen (so it and What's new show once per update), when you last tapped Later on the out-of-date message, and the findings you marked Not a concern (each app's iPhone app ID and the kinds of reason it was flagged for, so it shows again if something new appears). These stay until you delete the app; Show all again in Settings clears the hidden findings.
• Read on your phone, not stored: the iOS version, the iPhone model identifier (for example "iPhone15,2", not the name you gave your phone) and how long since the phone last restarted. They're used for the security-update check, the restart reminder and, if you choose to send them, support logs. The security-update check compares your iOS version with a list of Apple's current iOS releases that ships inside the app (made when the app is built, from Apple's public software-update catalog); nothing is looked up online.
• Weekly reminder (optional): if you turn it on and allow notifications, a notification scheduled on your phone reminds you once a week to share a fresh report. Turn it off in the app or in iOS Settings → Notifications.
• Summary, Details, Dashboard and timelines are worked out on your phone from the report you shared, while the app is open. This includes comparing the websites apps contacted with a built-in list of about 20 domains named in Citizen Lab's October 2026 AdFection report; nothing is looked up online. They are not stored; close the app or share another report and they are gone.
• Share report (optional): when you tap Share report, the app makes a PDF of the findings on your phone and opens the iOS share sheet. You choose where it goes (for example Mail, Messages or Files); nothing is sent unless you pick a destination. The app writes the PDF to its temporary folder only so the share sheet can hand it on, and deletes it when the share sheet closes (or the next time the app opens). It does not keep a copy.
• Send to MCPOTA for review (optional): if you'd like MCPOTA to look at an app's privacy policy, tap Send to MCPOTA for review. You pick which apps to include (none is picked for you). The app then shows you exactly what will be in the email, and only after you confirm does it open a ready-made email in your own Mail app, addressed to reports@mcpota.com. Nothing is sent until you tap Send in Mail, and you can change or delete anything in the email first. If Mail isn't set up, the app shows the address and lets you share the same files to another email app with the iOS share sheet.
  • What's in it: for each app you picked, its name and iPhone app ID, the lines Spygone showed for it (which kinds of access iOS recorded and how many times, and how many domains it contacted, naming the most-contacted ones), and MCPOTA's policy grade for it with the quoted policy clauses and what they mean. It also has the dates the App Privacy Report covers, the Spygone version, the date the email was made, and a note that this is a snapshot derived from Apple's App Privacy Report cross-referenced with MCPOTA's policy grades. These are attached as a PDF and a JSON (data) file, with a short list of the apps in the email itself.
  • What's not in it: the App Privacy Report file itself, its raw entries, anything about apps you didn't pick, and nothing else from your phone. Your email address and name reach us only because the email comes from your account.
  • On your phone: the attachments are handed to Mail without being saved. If you use the share-sheet route instead, the app writes the two files to its temporary folder so the share sheet can hand them on, and deletes them when you close that screen (or the next time the app opens).
  • How MCPOTA uses it: only to review the privacy-policy concerns you reported, for example to check or update our analysis of an app's policy. We may review it with the help of AI tools for that purpose, under terms that don't allow it to be used for training. We don't sell or share it, don't use it for advertising, and don't add your email address to any list. We keep it until the review is finished and then delete it; write to privacy@mcpota.com to have it deleted sooner. Once you send it, the email is also handled by your email provider.
• Send feedback (optional): in Settings, Send feedback opens an email in your own Mail app to beta@mcpota.com with a few questions for you to answer. The app fills in only the Spygone version, the iOS version and the iPhone model identifier; nothing from your App Privacy Report. Nothing is sent until you tap Send. We use it only to improve Spygone.
• Send logs to support (optional): in Settings, Send logs to support shows you a short list of details, then opens an email in your own Mail app to support@mcpota.com. It holds the Spygone version, the iOS version and iPhone model identifier, your settings (setup finished, weekly reminder), whether a report is open and how many apps it has and how many of its lines couldn't be read, how long ago you last shared one, how many findings you hid, and the messages Spygone showed since you opened it. It has no app names, app IDs, websites or anything else from your App Privacy Report. Nothing is sent until you tap Send. We use it only to fix the problem and delete it when that's done.
• Not a concern? (optional): on an app's page, you can tell Spygone an app it flagged is fine. Just hide it stores the app's ID on your phone (see above) and sends nothing. Hide and share with support also opens an email in your own Mail app to support@mcpota.com with that one app's name and iPhone app ID, the lines Spygone showed for it, MCPOTA's grade for its policy, the Spygone and iOS versions, and anything you write. Nothing is sent until you tap Send. We use it only to improve the detection, and delete it when that's done.
• Prepare an FTC complaint (optional): on an app's page, Spygone can write a draft complaint from what the App Privacy Report recorded for that app and the policy's own words. It copies the draft to your clipboard and opens the FTC's reporting site (reportfraud.ftc.gov) in your browser. You read it, change it and submit it yourself; Spygone files nothing and sends nothing to MCPOTA or the FTC. What you submit is handled under the FTC's own privacy policy.
• Phone check: a guided list of iPhone settings to look at yourself (profiles, certificates, VPN, keyboards, signed-in devices, location sharing, trusted numbers). The app can't see those settings. Your answers stay on that screen only; they aren't stored or sent, and they're cleared when you leave it.
• Nothing else leaves your phone. The iPhone version has no account, ads, analytics or tracking. Apart from what you choose to send with Share report, Send to MCPOTA for review, Send logs to support, Send feedback or a false-alarm report, it sends nothing to MCPOTA or anyone else. Tapping Read the full policy on an app's page opens the company's website in your browser, Prepare an FTC complaint opens the FTC's site, and Check for updates in TestFlight opens Apple's TestFlight app.
• Policy grades are MCPOTA's analysis of quoted privacy-policy text, as described above. The reviews ship inside the app, so looking an app up never leaves your phone. Reviews are made from the privacy policy linked on the company's Google Play listing and matched to the same company's iPhone app; a company's iPhone and Android apps usually share one policy. The made-up sample shows made-up grades.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, we will update the date at the top of this page. If a change affects what the app does with your information, we'll also explain it in the app before it takes effect.

Contact

Questions about this policy: privacy@mcpota.com