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| The famous avast! Antivirus sells your personal information |
Avast, the manufacturer of the popular free antivirus software used by millions of people around the world, is expected to sell highly sensitive user data to many major companies such as Google, Microsoft, Pepsi, Yelp, Home Depot and Intuit through its Jumpshot subsidiary. ,,
The joint PCMag and motherboard report is based on a similar study by Adblock Plus company Vladimir Palant, which in October 2019 reported Avast Online Security Extension and AVG Secure Browser to monitor users and collect their information.
This report explains how users share anonymous data and data to hide their personal identities. This includes specific information that companies like Google and Microsoft can use to learn a lot about you.
Jumpshot has reportedly sold information about Avast users to several companies, including IBM, Intuit, L'Oréal, and Home Depot, but many of them and others are mentioned in the joint investigation. She refused to jump
Information for sale includes Google search, site search, GPS coordinates in Google Maps, user visits to LinkedIn corporate sites, specific YouTube videos, and visits to pornographic sites.
The information is not said to contain personally identifiable information such as usernames, but experts fear that some activities cannot be identified by combining data sold with Jumpshot and other records, which is detrimental to protecting the privacy of people who may not yet know that the data Their own will be sold. ,
Experts say it will be difficult, but not impossible, to identify the owner of the data, and Jumpshot will provide a variety of feeds, including website details visited by avast users, when, where and on what devices.
Organizations can use these detailed records and their records to identify unknown persons. However, an Avast spokesman said that Jumpshot does not collect personal information such as name, email address, email or contact information.
He said: Users can unsubscribe from the ability to share data with Jumpshot at any time. As of July 2019, we have started implementing clear subscription options for all new AV downloads, and we are now asking existing free users to decide whether to subscribe or unsubscribe. Subscription option, the process will be completed in 2019. February 2020.
The spokesman pointed out that avast has long-protected user devices and data from malware, and is responsible for striking a balance between protecting user data and the required use of data from major products. Security.
More than 435 million people are said to use avast every month! Antivirus software, while Jumpshot claims to have access to information on 100 million devices.