Avast Is Going To Stop Selling Your Web Habits: Avast, one of the world’s biggest antivirus and security companies, announced on Thursday plans to wind up its subsidiary Jumpshot after a privacy furor erupted over the last two months.
After Forbes pressed Avast CEO Ondrej Vlcek over the privacy implications�of the Czech cybersecurity giant sharing the Web-browsing habits and histories of its users with Jumpshot, Senator Ron Wyden (D–Ore.) wrote to the company, asking for more information. With 400 million users, the potential for privacy infringements was great, as proven in a joint investigation by Vice and PCMag, earlier this week, in which leaks revealed the businesses buying user data from Avast’s subsidiary. Customers included Google, Microsoft, Home Depot and many other companies. Data included which websites people visited, including porn sites and what specific videos they watched.
Though Vlcek explained to Forbes in December that all the data was anonymized and aggregated, PCMag claimed it was still possible to determine who a user was by combining different pieces of information.
After Forbes pressed Avast CEO Ondrej Vlcek over the privacy implications�of the Czech cybersecurity giant sharing the Web-browsing habits and histories of its users with Jumpshot, Senator Ron Wyden (D–Ore.) wrote to the company, asking for more information. With 400 million users, the potential for privacy infringements was great, as proven in a joint investigation by Vice and PCMag, earlier this week, in which leaks revealed the businesses buying user data from Avast’s subsidiary. Customers included Google, Microsoft, Home Depot and many other companies. Data included which websites people visited, including porn sites and what specific videos they watched.
Though Vlcek explained to Forbes in December that all the data was anonymized and aggregated, PCMag claimed it was still possible to determine who a user was by combining different pieces of information.