A complaint against Avast claims that its products spy on millions of users.

A complaint against Avast for spying on users

The Avast Secure Browser browser sends data about users' browsing history.

A complaint against Avast ensures that the firm's antivirus products spied on more than 400 million users. The instrument of espionage is the Avast Online Security extension that these products encourage to install in the user's browser to obtain maximum protection.

This can be avoided if you use Firefox, Chrome, Edge, or some other browser. But Avast has your own browser focused on privacy.

In the case of the Avast Secure Browser product has Avast Online Security installed by default. It is hidden in the list of extensions and cannot be uninstalled by regular means. Its functionality is apparently considered an integral part of the browser. The same thing happens if you use AVG Secure Browser which is now also owned by Avast

The explanation of a complaint against Avast

When the Avast Online Security extension is active, requests information about the websites visited by the user to an Avast server. In the process, transmits data that makes it possible to reconstruct all your history and much of your browsing behavior. The amount of data that is sent goes far beyond what is necessary for the extension to work, especially when compared to competing solutions such as Google Safe Browsing.

In fact, Avast's Privacy Policy reports this behavior ensuring that you keep the data anonymously without saying how long it does.

The data transmission could be verified since every time a user opens a tab, the browser connects first to this site

The query not only sent when a page is accessed, It also happens every time you switch between tabs. And, if you open a search engine, all the links found on this page will be sent, be it a search result or an internal search engine link.

Some alternatives

As usual, open source gives us excellent alternatives To safeguard our privacy, I do not know of any solution that integrates antivirus and browser, so I am going to discuss the alternatives separately.

Antivirus

Armadito Antivirus

This software works with Windows and Linux. Since the admin panel is a web page, it can be controlled remotely. Some of its characteristics are:

  • Traditional malware detection.
  • ClamAV database support so you can scan your email for viruses.
  • Support for using the YARA rule when examining any directory or file that is suspected of being malicious.
  • Heuristic detection modules to check binaries and PDF documents for new, hitherto unknown viruses.
  • Ability to quarantine specific areas.

ClamAV

This is an old acquaintance that we can even find in the repositories of various distributions. Also available for Windows, Mac and xBSD.

Some of its characteristics are:

  • A multi-threaded scanning daemon and command line utilities for on-demand file scanning.
  • Automatic update of the malware database.
  • Support for various types of files.
  • Ability to decompress files.
  • Scanning of web pages and email.
  • It can be used from the terminal.

Browsers

I begin by clarifying that I do not use Chromium, therefore I am not in a position to say if it should be on the list. If you think it should be among the alternatives of browsers with privacy features, you have the comment form at your disposal. But, a little serious, don't suggest Google Chrome.

Firefox

Despite some concessions to political correctness that led the Mozilla Foundation to abandon meritocracy for "inclusion," the browser continues to make improvements. All of them were timely commented by my colleagues.

The browser also has its database of malicious sites that warns us when we try to enter any of them.

Brave

This browser It is developed by the former head of Mozilla Labs. It claims to be 8 times faster than the competition (including Google Chrome) and blocks the download of unwanted content that allows tracking. It includes a pre-installed ad blocker and two private browsing modes, one of them using the Tor network.


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  1.   eblin said

    Excellent post, very clear.

    1.    Diego German Gonzalez said

      Thanks for your comment

  2.   JOSE 'LUIS MARTINS MIRANDA said

    THIS IS PURE MAFIA I WANT TO REMOVE IT FROM MY COMPUTER AND IT DOESN'T LET IT IS AN ABUSE AND I CAN'T GET THEM TAKE IT OFF I'M GOING TO GO TO THE END I DO NOT WANT THEM ON MY COMPUTER I JUST WANT TO REMOVE THEM I DON'T WANT THEM, OUT PLEASE ALREADY. TO GO TO JUDGE OF GUARD

  3.   mmmmmmmmm said

    Avast is a total scoundrel, he gets into my computer and won't let me work, he's stupid he doesn't recognize the danger, I'm doing a course and he tells me that there are those who are following me, on top of that I have to wait an hour for him to let me do something , I do not want it and it is impossible to remove them from the computer, let us report it to the OCU. Who is the owner of this unscrupulous company, I never saw another anti-virus that actually behaves like a virus. Should justice take action against people of this ilk

    1.    Diego German Gonzalez said

      You have to look for the Applications option at the beginning of the settings and deactivate Avast. Afterwards you should have no problem deleting it

  4.   patricia aispuro said

    my son was opening a game called roblox on the pc and he did not remember that he installed something with avast and avast opened instead of google he came crying to me and told me