Android is like the Windows XP days with little regards to user's protection

Months ago, I made a statement to my friends that effectively compared Android's operations or lack of security to the days of Windows XP and prior. The open neglect seems to follow the same excuse Windows use to make it easy for people to use. Now my observation is supported,

The Android threat landscape is starting to resemble that of Windows, according to F-Secure's Mobile Threat Report 

The Android threat landscape is growing in both size and complexity with cyber criminals adopting new distribution methods and building Android-focused malware services, according to a report from Finnish security vendor F-Secure.

The number of mobile threats has increased by nearly 50 percent during the first three months of 2013, from 100 to 149 families and variants, F-Secure said in its Mobile Threat Report for Q1 2013 that was released on Tuesday. Over 91 percent of those threats target the Android platform and the rest target Symbian.

What frightens me most and at the same annoying me is that when you install most applications, they demand access to your account, your phone, or other facilities that do not seem to be related to what the main function of the applications.

For example, I once wanted to install a PDF viewer and it demanded permission to access my phone contacts, etc. I have yet to see a PDF viewer in Linux/Windows demanding access to my Outlook or Thunderbird phone book, or my Google account. After all, it is just a program to render the PDF document and all it really need is read access to certain area where the document is held.

Then the other date I want to install a GPS logger but it too needed my Google Account, phone Contacts, phone logs, etc. Why? Is it just a program to jolt down the GPS location regular interval or on demand? All it really requires should be write access to the user's area and no more and no less.

If application demanding this kind of unnecessarily access of elevated privilege or to areas in Windows and Linux, they will be exposed as Trojan or Malware. But in Android, a form of Linux, it is an acceptable practice. Why?

As a result, I often do not install those applications that demand unreasonably access.

The only way to fix this rampant neglect of security is to turn everything off and then allowing the user to enable/disable access relating to features user requires. Ultimately it should be the responsibility of the phone owner. At the moment, the big switch is just too wide much like Windows XP where most people were using it without security.