The company said that it complies with the European GDPR and the California Consumer Privacy Act, and referred users to its privacy policy for more information. “We have a long track record of protecting users’ devices and data against malware, and we understand and take seriously the responsibility to balance user privacy with the necessary use of data for our core security products,” Avast added. “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.” Credit: Avast Avast supplies a long list of optional modules to install as part of its free security softwareĪvast’s statement also sought to minimise concerns about its practices. “Users have always had the ability to opt out of sharing data with Jumpshot,” it said. The statement went on to describe the opt-in and opt-out choices available. “We ensure that Jumpshot does not acquire personal identification information, including name, email address or contact details,” the statement said.
In a statement, Avast said that it “acted quickly to meet browser store standards,” and in December completely discontinued the practice of using any data from the browser extensions for any other purpose than improving the core security engine. “Last week, months after it was spotted using its browser extensions to send data to Jumpshot, Avast began asking its existing free anti-virus consumers to opt-in to data collection, according to an internal document,” Motherboard wrote.
That data is then passed along to Jumpshot, those sources said, and from there to its corporate clients.
In the report, Avast told Motherboard/PCMag that data collected by the Avast browser extensions is no longer provided to Jumpshot.īut other sources alleged that it is instead collecting that same information from the Avast and AVG free anti-virus programs. Avast acquired Jumpshot in 2013, and a statement on the company’s website says that it “provides insights into consumers’ online journeys by measuring every search, click and buy across 1,600 categories from more than 150 sites, including Amazon, Google, Netflix, and Walmart.”Īt the time, the news caused browser makers like Google to remove both from its web store, though the extensions have since returned.
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