It was reportedly found that Avast has recently started asking users to opt-in to data collection via a pop-up message in the antivirus software. "Instead of harvesting information through software attached to the browser, Avast is doing it through the anti-virus software itself". However, the report found that the company's claims were false and that the data collection is ongoing. Avast has since stopped sending browsing data collected by these extensions to Jumpshot. Avast had previously explained this data collection and sharing in a blog and forum post in 2015. Shortly after, browser makers Mozilla, Opera, and Google removed Avast's and subsidiary AVG's extensionsfrom their respective browser extension stores. Security researcher and AdBlock Plus creator Wladimir Palant published a blog postin October showing that Avast harvested user data with that plugin. Until recently, Avast was collecting the browsing data of its customers who had installed the company's browser plugin, which is designed to warn users of suspicious websites. In a statement to Motherboard and PCMag, Avast said that it doesn't anymore share browsing data with Jumpshot: "As of July 2019, we had already begun implementing an explicit opt-in choice for all new downloads of our AV, and we are now also prompting our existing free users to make an opt-in or opt-out choice, a process which will be completed in February 2020," the spokesperson said.Įven if the company data does not acquire "personal information" as it claims, it still has information on specific browsing data, which could be used to deanonymise users.
In a statement given to Cnet, an Avast spokesperson said that Jumpshot doesn't acquire "personal identification information, including name, email address or contact details," and that users have always had the option to opt-out of sharing data with Jumpshot.
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