aractus:
This has real world consequences. Women or men in abusive relationships might need a safe, private way to contact a service without their partner being able to see this. Do you think a VPN would be appropriate? Or do you think using the built-in private browsing feature would be more appropriate?
and
You are not given the option when you install the product - you have to find the option and disable after installing. I do not want my data being sent to foreign-owned corporations, full stop.
You gotta take EVERYTHING with a grain of salt nowadays. It's not just AVAST, it's every program that forces you to agree to the default settings before installing. Sounds like you've got your machine locked down, in and out. Problem is, there's very little that you can easily escape from. Download, Install and Configure.
Ethics can be tricky. At the end of the day, the bean counters have the final say. Advertising is everywhere, that's how companies get revenue. Of course, you could design your own system and sell it. But in today's world... data is for sale. That's my beef. I can't opt out of my data being collected and going to whoever wants it. There is software I've not installed after reading the terms (yes, I read every last word... do you?), because I like my privacy too much.
Good luck.