Avast Collected and Sold Users' Web Browsing Data: Report - allenmoseeted

Touristy opposing-virus software Avast is now in the crosshairs for reportedly aggregation and selling substance abuser network browsing data to companies alike Google, Microsoft, and others. The report comes from a joint investigation conducted by Motherboard and PCMag, which investigated leaked documents from Avast subsidiary Jumpshot.

According to the investigation the Avast antivirus program, once installed happening a user's computer, would collect info astir the user's World Wide Web browsing activities. Jumpshot would then repackage that data and sell it to companies offering to pay for access.

The report also includes name of an "All Clicks Feed" product that allegedly caterpillar-tracked drug user behaviour, clicks, and movements across websites in detail. Companies would reportedly remuneration millions of dollars for this implausibly detailed information. Motherboard and PCMag news report that one marketing firm paid over $2 million for information access parthian year.

Further, the report alleges that Avast, in many instances, would besides collect information about a user's access to porn websites, and offered information including the date and time of the visit, search terms secondhand, and, in some cases, even the videos watched by the user.

In a statement, Avast said that it has stopped providing browsing data collected past extensions to Jumpshot. Nonetheless, the report claims that the company is still collecting data via the anti-virus software itself, even though it has stopped assembling such data done its extensions.

The paper highlights that multiple Avast users were not sensible about this data collection practice, raising questions about how (if at all) the company gathers informed consent from the drug user before collecting browsing data, and in many cases, incredibly detailed selective information about the drug user's browsing habits.