Avast WEBforum

Consumer Products => Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security (legacy Pro Antivirus, Internet Security, Premier) => Topic started by: REDACTED on December 11, 2017, 05:55:44 PM

Title: avast breaches privacy
Post by: REDACTED on December 11, 2017, 05:55:44 PM
I have a paid AIS licence for several machines.  I just received an installer from a software provider -- software I use for my job.  I launched the exe file and Avast interrupted launch to scan it.  Avast has decided it doesn't like my file and sent it to some place called Avast Virus Labs, and now the installer won't run. It's not 1992 anymore, folks. Taking files from machines is a privacy breach. Oh, and stealing.
Avast is now preventing me from doing my job.
I have spent 20 minutes looking for "Contact Avast" information, wandering around the "my account" area, and the forum is the only means for voicing this complaint. Not good enough.
Licences are coming up for renewal in less than a year.  I'm now actively looking to replace Avast.
Title: Re: avast breaches privacy
Post by: Pondus on December 11, 2017, 06:02:15 PM
Well it is not a person sitting there an looking at your file(s) it is a automated system

https://press.avast.com/avast-builds-threat-detection-based-on-machine-learning-to-protect-users-from-zero-day-attacks-malware-and-privacy-threats

https://blog.avast.com/the-5-vs-of-big-data-for-machine-learning

https://blog.avast.com/avast-at-machine-learning-prague-2017

All AV vendors does it, even WinDefender
https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/mmpc/2017/05/08/antivirus-evolved/?ocid=cx-blog-mmpc

https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/mmpc/2017/12/11/detonating-a-bad-rabbit-windows-defender-antivirus-and-layered-machine-learning-defenses/





Title: Re: avast breaches privacy
Post by: REDACTED on December 11, 2017, 06:04:26 PM
I have installed my software by turning off my internet connection and running the exe file.  Now Avast has aborted the launch of the software I need to do my job and sent the exe file and says they'll get back to me in

150

minutes.

that's almost three hours from now.

Avast is fired.
Title: Re: avast breaches privacy
Post by: Pondus on December 11, 2017, 06:09:37 PM
And if you where infected because your AV did not detect you would also be mad ....

so it is not an easy task those AV vendors have, customers expect 100% detection and zero false positives



Title: Re: avast breaches privacy
Post by: REDACTED on December 11, 2017, 11:45:17 PM
Three hours ago I found the whitelist option in the avast settings.  I whitelisted my software and now it's working again.
It's now six hours later and I've received an automated reply that the software is safe.
I see also there have been three Avast moderators looking at my post but there has been zero customer service response, zero.
This is well below minimum service level.  Actively looking for a replacement service.
Title: Re: avast breaches privacy
Post by: bob3160 on December 11, 2017, 11:52:03 PM
Three hours ago I found the whitelist option in the avast settings.  I whitelisted my software and now it's working again.
It's now six hours later and I've received an automated reply that the software is safe.
I see also there have been three Avast moderators looking at my post but there has been zero customer service response, zero.
This is well below minimum service level.  Actively looking for a replacement service.
How do you get to the conclusion that 3 Moderators have looked at this post ???
Whitelisting the program was always an option you could have used if you were positive that the program in question was safe.
I'm personally never in that much of a hurry to whitelist anything unless I'm 100% sure.
Title: Re: avast breaches privacy
Post by: DavidR on December 12, 2017, 12:24:53 AM
<snip>
I see also there have been three Avast moderators looking at my post but there has been zero customer service response, zero.
<snip>

If your assumption 3 moderators are looking at your post is based on the information top and bottom of the page (see image).  Then that is incorrect, these are three moderators for the complete 'Avast Free Antivirus / Pro Antivirus / Internet Security/ Premier' sub-forum