Avast's confident update sends cybersecurity firm to top of FTSE

SeriousHoax

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Mar 16, 2019
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Cybersecurity firm Avast (AVST.L) said it had made a good start to the year, with organic revenue rising 10.4% in the first quarter, and forecast revenue growth at the top end of its 6-8% range, sending its shares to the top of the FTSE on Tuesday.

Chief Executive Ondrej Vlcek said there was continued demand for the London-listed company's security, privacy and performance products, and he looked forward to the rest of the year with confidence.

Analysts at UBS said the continuing strong top line momentum, increase in the guidance and especially the strong cash flow should be well-received by the market.
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Nagisa

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Jul 19, 2018
341
I don't quite understand why Avast is known like as it's the only company that do data harvesting. Maybe I'm underestimating the case but many company already does it directly or indirectly.

1619079197853.png



 

Venustus

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Dec 30, 2012
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I don't quite understand why Avast is known like as it's the only company that do data harvesting. Maybe I'm underestimating the case but many company already does it directly or indirectly.

View attachment 257214


Avast diid it on the sly..Read this article
 

Marko :)

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Aug 12, 2015
954
I don't quite understand why Avast is known like as it's the only company that do data harvesting. Maybe I'm underestimating the case but many company already does it directly or indirectly.

View attachment 257214


Because they used to own a company named Jumpshot which would analyze and sell browsing data gathered through Avast's products. After landing in hot water, Avast quickly terminated the company. Though, it's worth mentioning that data collection in Avast was always opt-in, instead opt-out. They literally asked you during installation if you want to participate in data collection program.

 

blackice

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Apr 1, 2019
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Because they used to own a company named Jumpshot which would analyze and sell browsing data gathered through Avast's products. After landing in hot water, Avast quickly terminated the company. Though, it's worth mentioning that data collection in Avast was always opt-in, instead opt-out. They literally asked you during installation if you want to participate in data collection program.

They even wrote a blog about it when they started the process and noted how to opt out, in like 2014. Although, like everything with AVAST, it was turned on by default.
 

LiquidExploit

Level 1
Nov 3, 2017
12
I don't quite understand why Avast is known like as it's the only company that do data harvesting. Maybe I'm underestimating the case but many company already does it directly or indirectly.
A lot of people say they did it deceptively or without explicitly telling users, but I'm confused because from my experience, this was always one of the first things to pop up when installing Avast:
avast-data-sharing.jpg
I mean, that seems pretty transparent to me, lol. And I'm from the U.S., we don't have particularly strict data privacy laws here. 🤷‍♂️
 
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Ink

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Jan 8, 2011
22,361
A lot of people say they did it deceptively or without explicitly telling users, but I'm confused because from my experience, this was always one of the first things to pop up when installing Avast:
View attachment 257698
I mean, that seems pretty transparent to me, lol. And I'm from the U.S., we don't have particularly strict data privacy laws here. 🤷‍♂️
How old is the screenshot of that window and program version?
 
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LiquidExploit

Level 1
Nov 3, 2017
12
How old is the screenshot of that window and program version?
I looked into it further and I think the consent screen in *that* form came around late 2019 or early 2020. I think Avast put it up to try and quell some of the backlash they were getting before deciding to just end Jumpshot altogether.

Avast has informed the user of their data collection as early as 2015

2015 ver.jpg

But... from 2015-2019 their explanation of what data they used was pretty vague, and users were opted in automatically. I definitely see the issue with that, they should've provided an opt-out on install from the very beginning, so backlash for that is well deserved.
 
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Marko :)

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Yeah, but then, again, they still informed you about the data collection. They even asked you to read carefully. Back in 2015, everything was opt-out; now are different times.
 
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