Popular antivirus app Avast and its subsidiary AVG have been accused of selling highly sensitive browsing histories to millions of its users. According to a survey by Motherboard and PCMag, Avast and AVG, which are among the most widely used antivirus programs, tracked data, including Google searches, GPS coordinates, LinkedIn browsing history, people watching specific videos from YouTube and even visits to a porn website. The investigation found that Avast used another subsidiary called Jumpshot to repackage the data and sell it to companies like Google, Yelp, Microsoft, McKinsey, Pepsi, Home Depot, Condé Nast, Intuit, etc.
raped
According to the report, the user data was collected by free antivirus programs installed on the computer. While Avast claimed that it collects data on the basis of a user consenting, several users ignored both the data collection and the sale to large companies without their consent. This includes tracking the date and time a user visits a porn site, the search term used on the site, and even the video viewed by the user. While the tracked data had no personal identifiers, the survey found that it was fairly easy to unmask people due to the amount of data available. Jumpshot reportedly reported millions of these sales because it helps businesses accurately target their customers. The company's website claims to provide digital insights into the "Internet's Most Valuable Walled Gardens" and offers information that eases the "path to purchases, revenue, and traffic sources." on the website, conversion rate data, and more.” While few Jumpshot products contain only a limited amount of data, their product called the “All Click Feed” contains data from all clicks across major eCommerce sites like Amazon .com, Walmart.com, Target .com, BestBuy.com or eBay Not an independent incident in which Avast has been found guilty of tracking user data User data was previously detected by the company's browser extension without their consent and sent them to Jumpshot.Once highlighted, the company promptly complied with browser policies and subsequently stopped collecting data from browser extensions.Via PCMag