Leaked: Avast antivirus is selling highly sensitive web browsing data to the world's biggest companies

Prorootect

Level 69
Thread author
Verified
Nov 5, 2011
5,855
Now I finally know wholly, why I had never put my trust in Avast, never downloading it.
Bad antivirus I knew, but bad privacy practices - this I didn't know until today.
So I have a natural gift for foresight...
This does not surprise me in the least.
This makes several times and for years, that I had posted on this site the anti-Avast rants, at the risk of death! (or at least a great deal of dissatisfaction from the supporters of this software...).
 
F

ForgottenSeer 823865

This makes several times and for years, that I had posted on this site the anti-Avast rants, at the risk of death! (or at least a great deal of dissatisfaction from the supporters of this software...).
Avast was my first installed (by myself) AV back more than a decade ago where it was v4, i uninstalled it right away , i saw it was crap already.
Then the years passing, i saw all my customers computers coming for cleaning while Avast is installed...
 

Divine_Barakah

Level 29
Verified
Top Poster
Well-known
May 10, 2019
1,854
Avast was my first installed (by myself) AV back more than a decade ago where it was v4, i uninstalled it right away , i saw it was crap already.
Then the years passing, i saw all my customers computers coming for cleaning while Avast is installed...
There is no denying that Avast in its current state (with hardened mode at hand) offers great protect and it is sufficient. But that does not, in any way or another, justify their marketing practices. Today, we are witnessing the fall of another great product (or two product if we count AVG).
 

Dex4Sure

Level 3
Verified
Well-known
May 14, 2019
116
There is no denying that Avast in its current state (with hardened mode at hand) offers great protect and it is sufficient. But that does not, in any way or another, justify their marketing practices. Today, we are witnessing the fall of another great product (or two product if we count AVG).

Hardened mode can be bypassed and its outright dumb approach anyway. Ultimately I want the AV to stay out of my way both performance wise and security wise and only popping up when needed... Currently Windows Defender ticks all boxes, except for performance when transferring large files. Already for most users there is no need to install 3rd party AV as WD is just as good these days. If WD's stupid scanning during file transfers bothers you, then there are better choices out there. My personal favorite 3rd party AV is ESET for the fact its very light and offers among the best protection overall anyway.
 

mkoundo

Level 8
Verified
Well-known
Jul 21, 2017
358


Here’s how Jumpshot works:

Data is collected on computers and Android devices through the browser. Each record contains a set of fields that help Jumpshot algorithms assign the clickstream data appropriately. These fields include:
- Installation identifiers (proprietary identifiers that do not contain any PII)
- URL being visited
- Referral URL (if this exists)
- Window identifier
- Tab identifier
- Additional fields for processing purposes

In reality, the information Avast passes on to Jumpshot looks like this:
- Identifier: 00002437-705b-4bc6-b062-54b7ea511c93
- URL being visited: US News – Top national stories and latest headlines - CNN
- Referral URL: CNN International - Breaking News, US News, World News and Video
- Window identifier: 3
- Tab identifier: 42
 

SumTingWong

Level 28
Verified
Top Poster
Well-known
Apr 2, 2018
1,706
The link works fine here :


I still will not trust Avast official statement that they don't spy on their users. 1) They already caught multiple times like how can you trust them after Piriform ccleaner spy come to light? 2) Company will prevent employees from speaking the truth, and if employees decide to speak the truth then they will be fired. 3) Since in-app ads is not working for them then the last source is secretly sell your data. 3) When you as a consumer demand free product, you are a product itself.4) Avast is bs that they are obeying their privacy policy then why the hell there is a lot of privacy concerns news about Avast? Company is a mini version of Government system. They hide a lot of stuff from us civilians.

Avast usually one of my favorite free antivirus beside Windows Defender/Microsoft Security Essential, but that era is long gone when Avast decided to be greedy. Not just only destroy AVG company but also Piriform as well.
 
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Cortex

Level 26
Verified
Top Poster
Well-known
Aug 4, 2016
1,465
In my life for example with people: if you find a friend relation, work mate has done something underhand or less than honest with you & they get found out, the answer is maybe give them limited trust - If it should happen again dismiss them from your life to the fullest extent you can - This is not the first time Avast has been in the news for data acquiring, it's part of who they are - I didn't know Jumpshot were a Avast subsidiary either.
 

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