Hi,
I have been an avast user since the early 2000's. Over the years I have strongly recommended avast to many friends and clients who use both the free and paid versions. I as well had the pro version and mobile version which I discontinued due to the fact I do not want my antivirus taking over my pc operations nor do I want my antivirus scrapping my information for advertisement purposes. The extra paid features robbed my pc of resources, made some sites black listed and created annoying functions not needed. However I still use the free version. Avast continually sends me emails that you want me back as a paid customer which may never happen plus I no longer recommend avast to my many clients.
At this point its getting bothersome that avast completely takes over when a program update is pending and web browsing is completely halted making it impossible to browse the web. There has to be a happy medium between avast's bottom line, the users right to privacy and complete usability when needing updates.