Avast Promises It Won’t Sell Your Data… Anymore

Avast Promises It Won’t Sell Your Data… Anymore

For years we’ve thought Avast was run by a sneaky bunch. They supposedly protect their users from all manner of nasty things including software bundling. But Avast has been bundling useless programs with its Antivirus program for years.

There’s an old saying that “there’s no such thing as a free lunch” and nothing illustrates that better than Avast finally coming out and admitting they’ve made millions of dollars by selling data collected from its users.

Well, here, you can read it for yourself:

Avast Antivirus Is Shutting Down Its Data Collection Arm, Effective Immediately

Avast will no longer collect or sell its users’ internet browsing data and will “wind down Jumpshot’s operations, with immediate effect.”

Avast, an antivirus program with more than 435 million users worldwide, said it will stop collecting and selling the private web browsing histories of its users following a joint investigation by Motherboard and PCMag into the sale of that data. In addition, Avast said it will completely shut down Jumpshot, the subsidiary company it used to sell this data.

Our investigation found that Avast, through a subsidiary called Jumpshot, made millions of dollars following its users around the internet. Jumpshot told its clients, which include Microsoft, Google, McKinsey, Pepsi, Home Depot, Yelp, and many others that it could track “every search. Every click. Every buy. On every site.”

Read the rest of this article here.

PS: Keep in mind Avast owns AVG too.