I think such a feature will have to be considered and implemented with extreme care
Enablig the hotspot functionality will result in STOPPING Internet connection through WiFI
Immediatelly I can see two main downsides of this:

  • the thief will realize there is no more internet connection and may react trying to hack connection settings or even turning off the device (maybe to reboot it?)
  • the device will lost connection to Avast Server ==> you won’t be able to send further commands/get gps informations

This issue may be reduced with some precautions:

  • enable the feature with a limited timeout (few minutes)
  • use BT instead of wifi