Hello Norton Community,
I would like to report what appears to be abnormal behavior with the latest version of Norton 360 on Windows (26.2).
Issue Description
My Windows system reports that Norton 360 requested location access 80 times within a 30-minute period.
This frequency is extremely unusual and raises two concerns:
A security product should not need to request location data nearly every minute, so this behavior appears to be a software bug or malfunction.
Interaction with Norton Support
I contacted Norton chat support regarding this issue.
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Case Number: xxxxxxxx
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Support Agent: Madhu
Unfortunately, the support interaction did not resolve the issue. The responses I received were mostly generic explanations of why location services are used rather than technical troubleshooting.
Key points from the interaction:
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The only suggested workaround was to allow location access, which simply stops the prompts but does not address the excessive request frequency.
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The agent did not acknowledge that 80 location requests in 30 minutes is abnormal behavior.
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A VPN was initially suggested as the cause, even though Norton VPN is not available in my region (India).
Requested Clarification
I would appreciate if someone from the Norton team could clarify:
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Whether this high frequency of location requests is expected behavior.
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If this is a known issue or bug in the latest Norton 360 version.
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Whether a fix or patch is planned to limit these requests to a reasonable frequency.
I have attached a screenshot of the Windows activity log showing the location requests.
I would appreciate input from Norton engineers or community experts who can provide a technical explanation or solution.
Thank you.
Rahul Maheshwari
1 Like
Not sure if this would have anything to do with what you are seeing, but check your 360 Settings > Privacy preferences tab. If you have both options turned on there, try turning them off. Then restart your computer and test. Restart, not shutdown and startup again.
1 Like
I followed your instruction and disabled those option and Yes I restarted (not shutdown) after restart still the same issue.
@Rahul_M @peterweb עם כל הרצון הטוב וכל הכבוד וההערכה על ניסיונך לעזור. אך לצערי אני נתקלת באותה בעיה ושום דבר לא עוזר אני פשוט התחלתי להתעלם מבקשות אלה!
Does this blast of Norton location requests coincide with your first turning on your computer for the day? If so, do you still see these multiple location calls later in the day?
It coincide with first reboot or hibernation mode on but those are bust of request 40-50 all of a sudden.
Let’s try going into 360 main interface and click on Settings > Troubleshooting tab. Then click on Repair Norton and see what it finds. Then restart your computer and test again.
To resolve this issue I have freshly install windows 11 (25H2) twice and freshly install norton so do you think this option you are suggesting necessary ?
I forgot to tell you one important piece of information. I am having this issue on multiple laptop. 2 Laptop which were being used for about 4 year old installation started asking this location recently and 1Laptop freshly install having same issue.
1 Like
Probably not. My next suggestion was going to be reinstalling Norton, not Windows.
When you installed Windows, was it a clean install or did you do a refresh over top of the old install?
@Rahul_M Where is the screenshot you posted being generated from? Within my Norton install I cannot see those requests in history nor elsewhere. I may be missing something so I need to verify from your side. Thanks in advance.
@areen_dahdal What version Norton do you have installed and what is your build/version of Windows? Also, thanks in advance.
SA
It was a clean fresh PEN DRIVE (ISO) made via microsoft website. Full format. and I have this issue on other Laptop (old installations) as well
I took this screenshot from Windows 11→Settings→Privacy & Security → Location→Recent Activity
I checked this because there was a constant location request in System Tray when Laptop was booted for few minutes.
I have this issue on Multiple Laptop (1 thinkpad, 2 Latitude)
–>You must have this option Let desktop app access your location enabled.
@Rahul_M So I believe you have the setting “Location Services” set to on. And thanks for the info, I wasn’t on or near my Windows 11 desktop at the time to review its settings. Although I DO NOT have Norton installed on that device currently I will have to review on my laptop the earliest chance I can get to that laptop. It DOES have the current release version installed. If location services are disabled I will enable it to allow logging and review what is there after it has sat idle for a couple of hours then compare to what you are seeing.
Just to be on the same page as you, are you logging into this device using Microsoft credentials or just a local account with admin rights?
SA
In the interim please use the laptop with the most current install of Windows 11, DO NOT allow it to sleep or hibernate. Disable WiFi on that device then shut it down. Wait for 2-3 minute then reboot. Keep the device totally disconnected from the internet and allow it to full boot and sit idle for at least 10 minutes. Review the location logs in Windows again and see if these are still occurring. I would like to try to establish whether Norton is making location calls while internet connected and doesn’t when its not connected.
SA
I am using Windows 11 version 25H2 (build 26200.8037). Two devices has Microsoft account and one local account, and all laptop experience the same issue. Location services are enabled for both Windows and desktop apps on all devices.
I followed your suggestion: I disabled Wi-Fi, waited for about 3 minutes, restarted the laptop, and then waited another 10 minutes. During that time, Norton did not attempt to access the location service even once.
However, as soon as I enabled Wi-Fi again, Norton immediately started repeatedly accessing the location service, causing what looks like a continuous bombardment of location service requests.
Thanks for the post-back and information. Does Norton bombard you with Location Services “DISABLED” in Windows settings ?
SA
it just give a message that precision location service needs to be enabled. enable it now yes or no.
Deny it and see what logs.
SA
Sir, I can not disabled location service as chrome and edge also need access to location service.
