Vice magazine recently reported that the Avast anti-virus company was harvesting their customer’s browsing data and selling it to other companies. This included what sites, keyword searches, YouTube videos, and other data which showcased user’s actions and preferences.
If you are an Avast user, then I suggest you immediately check your settings and make any changes you deem appropriate.
Go to: Menu -> Settings -> General -> Personal Privacy
I deselected them all!
Next Steps
Additionally, as a California citizen I also invoked my CCPA rights (yes Rights) and emailed the Avast Data Protection Officer (dpo@avast.com) with the following requests:
- Provide me what personal information is being collected about me
- Declare if my personal information is sold or disclosed and to whom
- Effectively immediately I am invoking my right to Opt-Out of the sale of my personal information PERMANENTLY (not just for the 12-month period as stated in the Avast policy)
- I request deletion of my personal information
I am interested in how they will respond. Privacy is very important. If I don't act to protect my privacy, then who will?