Author Topic: Official statement on the recent news about privacy  (Read 56338 times)

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Offline Snow6

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Re: This is very disappointing.
« Reply #30 on: January 29, 2020, 12:03:14 PM »
I've been a paying customer for several years.  I chose you because I believed you were an trustworthy company.  But you succumbed to the greed that seems to affect many companies that grow to be giants.

I went and opted out of data sharing but I'm going to have to rethink my renewal.  I WILL be looking at alternatives.

That's the point for me, too! I trusted the company for years now, a trust that was blown away in minutes. I introduced your product into my whole family and also to friends, because I was convinced about your company. These recommendations will stop now  :-X.


...
Maybe it should be according what you're told, but I'm pretty sure I toggled off the 3rd party related stuff etc far before I did so (again) yesterday. Yet yesterday all of it was on.


After I read the "reseting" of the Third-Party-Sharing Settings here in this thread, I checked my settings... and e Voila - everything was checked again, too. Great. I really feel fooled by that  >:( >:( >:(.

Offline top_stuff

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Re: Official statement on the recent news about privacy
« Reply #31 on: January 29, 2020, 12:58:57 PM »
I did a test a little while ago with all the correct toggles off. Paid avast sends telemetry to endpoints the same as free. What might be a difference is how much. But it is there paid or free.

Offline Bellzemos

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Re: Official statement on the recent news about privacy
« Reply #32 on: January 29, 2020, 09:24:55 PM »
Avast,

you are surely not the only corporation that sells user data this way, but you are an anti-virus company - and now you lost credibility and trust.

I've been using Avast since early 2000's and recommended it to everyone - now it's over. You had problems before (CCleaner hacking, late updates etc.) which made me question you, but this is the final blow. Avast was a great anti-virus once, thank you for the great protection over the years.

And this forum was/is a great community, I got great help from users here many many times throughout the years. Thank you!

I won't be using Avast products anymore.

Bye.
Intel Core i7 Q 740 @ 1.73 GHz, 6 GB RAM, Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1, Avast! Free Antivirus, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware (free version) and Sandboxie (paid version).

Offline Milos

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Re: Official statement on the recent news about privacy
« Reply #33 on: January 30, 2020, 08:36:01 AM »
A message from Avast CEO Ondrej Vlcek
https://blog.avast.com/a-message-from-ceo-ondrej-vlcek

Offline Lucifer66

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Re: Official statement on the recent news about privacy
« Reply #34 on: January 30, 2020, 12:04:57 PM »
So is that why Avast told me my information was on the dark web because Avast got hacked? You guys didn't get hacked, you just sold everyone's info for some fast cash, is that it? What a bunch of thieves man. People use your program to be safe and you basically sold our information to hackers.

There shouldn't even be ANYTHING to opt in or out of. It's a massive no-brainer, DON'T SELL OR GIVE YOUR CUSTOMERS INFORMATION TO ANYONE EVER!
If you can't make enough money providing a decent anti-virus then pack it in. Who needs a house alarm company that not only does not work, but gives burglars the address and keys to your house?

Offline XdxD

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Re: Official statement on the recent news about privacy
« Reply #35 on: January 30, 2020, 12:11:42 PM »
So is that why Avast told me my information was on the dark web because Avast got hacked? You guys didn't get hacked, you just sold everyone's info for some fast cash, is that it? What a bunch of thieves man. People use your program to be safe and you basically sold our information to hackers.

There shouldn't even be ANYTHING to opt in or out of. It's a massive no-brainer, DON'T SELL OR GIVE YOUR CUSTOMERS INFORMATION TO ANYONE EVER!
If you can't make enough money providing a decent anti-virus then pack it in. Who needs a house alarm company that not only does not work, but gives burglars the address and keys to your house?
Best thing ever said by someone in this forum.
Avast, at present, if you can't maintain a free solution, better don't provide it and harvest user data. Make all of the software you provide as paid and don't even think of doing such opt-ins. Doing this won't replenish your tarnished reputation, but it will help people to get some sort of privacy feeling while using a paid product. People needing free should use Windows Defender on their Windows 10 PCs as it is free and it performs similar to Avast Free in latest AV-Test results.


Offline bob3160

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Re: Official statement on the recent news about privacy
« Reply #37 on: January 30, 2020, 02:23:41 PM »
So is that why Avast told me my information was on the dark web because Avast got hacked? You guys didn't get hacked, you just sold everyone's info for some fast cash, is that it? What a bunch of thieves man. People use your program to be safe and you basically sold our information to hackers.

There shouldn't even be ANYTHING to opt in or out of. It's a massive no-brainer, DON'T SELL OR GIVE YOUR CUSTOMERS INFORMATION TO ANYONE EVER!
If you can't make enough money providing a decent anti-virus then pack it in. Who needs a house alarm company that not only does not work, but gives burglars the address and keys to your house?
Best thing ever said by someone in this forum.
Avast, at present, if you can't maintain a free solution, better don't provide it and harvest user data. Make all of the software you provide as paid and don't even think of doing such opt-ins. Doing this won't replenish your tarnished reputation, but it will help people to get some sort of privacy feeling while using a paid product. People needing free should use Windows Defender on their Windows 10 PCs as it is free and it performs similar to Avast Free in latest AV-Test results.
And if you truly believe that Microsoft isn't harvesting any information from it's users, you aren't quite as smart as I thought you were.
Thanks Ondrej for your statement and commitment.
Free Security Seminar: https://bit.ly/bobg2023  -  Important: http://www.organdonor.gov/ -- My Web Site: http://bob3160.strikingly.com/ - Win 11 Pro v22H2 64bit, 16 Gig Ram, 1TB SSD, Avast Free 23.5.6066, How to Successfully Install Avast http://goo.gl/VLXdeRepair & Clean Install https://goo.gl/t7aJGq -- My Online Activity https://bit.ly/BobGInternet

Offline schmidthouse

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Re: Official statement on the recent news about privacy
« Reply #38 on: January 30, 2020, 05:36:23 PM »
Yes Thank you Ondrej for you commitment and openly honest statement. Hopefully this will address users legitimate concerns.

Offline XdxD

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Re: Official statement on the recent news about privacy
« Reply #39 on: January 30, 2020, 06:10:30 PM »
And if you truly believe that Microsoft isn't harvesting any information from it's users, you aren't quite as smart as I thought you were.
Thanks Ondrej for your statement and commitment.
If you'd care to open Diagnostic Data Viewer and find any privacy infringing stuff, do please inform me here. If you care to visit Tenforums/MalwareTips.com, they'd tell you straightaway that the data Microsoft collects isn't what Avast collected and sold, "click to click". Also, if Microsoft did such stuff, don't you think the whole World would have already known by now, like is the case of Avast? Shouldn't all the security researchers be posting that stuff about Microsoft like they did for Avast? Do you 100% know what gets collected by Microsoft?
« Last Edit: January 30, 2020, 06:14:12 PM by XdxD »

Offline bob3160

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Re: Official statement on the recent news about privacy
« Reply #40 on: January 30, 2020, 09:24:42 PM »
And if you truly believe that Microsoft isn't harvesting any information from it's users, you aren't quite as smart as I thought you were.
Thanks Ondrej for your statement and commitment.
If you'd care to open Diagnostic Data Viewer and find any privacy infringing stuff, do please inform me here. If you care to visit Tenforums/MalwareTips.com, they'd tell you straightaway that the data Microsoft collects isn't what Avast collected and sold, "click to click". Also, if Microsoft did such stuff, don't you think the whole World would have already known by now, like is the case of Avast? Shouldn't all the security researchers be posting that stuff about Microsoft like they did for Avast? Do you 100% know what gets collected by Microsoft?
Microsoft, Google your ISP, etc, etc. All collect data and use it in many different ways. Making money is one of the ways your data is used.
There may not be any gathering of information via Defender but, it's collected in other places. By default, the OS is set to share as much of your info as possible.


The average user doesn't go into those settings to make changes which is what all large and small companies depend on.
Here in the US, if you've ever been on the internet for any amount of time, you no longer have any privacy.
If you delete your information from one source, you can be assured that this information has already been gathered in many other places.
Security is alive and well. Privacy is a totally different subject matter.
We now at least have the assurance from Ondrej that collection of information from it's product from now on, will only happen if you agree to that collection.

A message from Avast CEO Ondrej Vlcek
https://blog.avast.com/a-message-from-ceo-ondrej-vlcek

Avast will no longer provide data to Jumpshot
https://press.avast.com/avast-to-commence-wind-down-of-subsidiary-jumpshot
« Last Edit: January 30, 2020, 09:28:23 PM by bob3160 »
Free Security Seminar: https://bit.ly/bobg2023  -  Important: http://www.organdonor.gov/ -- My Web Site: http://bob3160.strikingly.com/ - Win 11 Pro v22H2 64bit, 16 Gig Ram, 1TB SSD, Avast Free 23.5.6066, How to Successfully Install Avast http://goo.gl/VLXdeRepair & Clean Install https://goo.gl/t7aJGq -- My Online Activity https://bit.ly/BobGInternet

Offline chris..

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Re: Official statement on the recent news about privacy
« Reply #41 on: January 30, 2020, 11:24:44 PM »

A message from Avast CEO Ondrej Vlcek
https://blog.avast.com/a-message-from-ceo-ondrej-vlcek

Avast will no longer provide data to Jumpshot
https://press.avast.com/avast-to-commence-wind-down-of-subsidiary-jumpshot
Quote
“We regret the impact this will have on Jumpshot employees and we appreciate the contributions they have made. We will endeavor to make this transition as smooth as possible for them,” said Mr. Vlcek.
Why did avast make public what should have been addressed privately to Jumpshot?
Am I the only user reading this with the feeling of being guilty of the impact on the employees of this company when I originally thought I was the victim, or did I not understand it?

I sincerely hope that our opinions count for avast as it says, but it's a pity that the trigger didn't come directly from us and our questions on this forum but rather from external investigations of which we know nothing (we can just guess  :) ) about their motives.
« Last Edit: January 31, 2020, 07:49:11 AM by chris.. »

Offline XdxD

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Re: Official statement on the recent news about privacy
« Reply #42 on: January 31, 2020, 06:29:35 AM »
]Microsoft, Google your ISP, etc, etc. All collect data and use it in many different ways. Making money is one of the ways your data is used.
There may not be any gathering of information via Defender but, it's collected in other places. By default, the OS is set to share as much of your info as possible.


The average user doesn't go into those settings to make changes which is what all large and small companies depend on.
Here in the US, if you've ever been on the internet for any amount of time, you no longer have any privacy.
If you delete your information from one source, you can be assured that this information has already been gathered in many other places.
Security is alive and well. Privacy is a totally different subject matter.
We now at least have the assurance from Ondrej that collection of information from it's product from now on, will only happen if you agree to that collection.

A message from Avast CEO Ondrej Vlcek
https://blog.avast.com/a-message-from-ceo-ondrej-vlcek

Avast will no longer provide data to Jumpshot
https://press.avast.com/avast-to-commence-wind-down-of-subsidiary-jumpshot
Let's look at what the CEO told in the form of an example.
Imagine I took your car without informing you and sold it to some car retailer. You'd be furious right, like right now the users of Avast are with Avast? Later, the news breaks out that I have done similar activity with more than a million people.  To calm down the situation, I then tell you that I will never ever deal with that car retailer. That doesn't bring you or those million people's cars back to them. That's what has happened right now. Our data is already gone, no matter what Avast as a company does right now. Noob people, if you believe I am one of those, would always go to review sites to get a better security solution. Considering this debacle and those sites ' decision to not let Avast be on their recommendation list for their privacy scandal, I wouldn't even want an Avast product on my PC. I care about a company collecting stuffs to improve their product, not to shell out cash of their user's day-to-day activities.
I was quite happy last week when a vulnerability of malwares using EFS was already mitigated by Avast in September last year. I felt pride that my preferred Security Solution had already patched up way before other solutions. Now, after the news broke out, I wouldn't even keep this 'data collecting Champ' in my PC. Because I, as the trust is broken, wouldn't be sure no matter how many times Avast tells me that those check boxes in Privacy section even work for sure now.
I was a frequent lurker here and was quite interested and happy in your answers to all those questions that have been asked related to Anti-Virus related issues. But you still believe that Avast did nothing wrong. So, keep enjoying it.
Also, have a look here regarding why Avast shouldn't have done that. https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=231837.msg1533802#msg1533802
« Last Edit: January 31, 2020, 06:34:17 AM by XdxD »

Offline Hadrian Walker

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Re: Official statement on the recent news about privacy
« Reply #43 on: January 31, 2020, 06:40:08 AM »
Extremely disappointing, particularly from a company entrusted to protect one's security and privacy.

I guess to the old adage "if you're not paying for the product, you are the product" needs to to be updated..... "even if you're paying for the product, you are the product"!

Offline XdxD

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Re: Official statement on the recent news about privacy
« Reply #44 on: January 31, 2020, 06:49:23 AM »
Extremely disappointing, particularly from a company entrusted to protect one's security and privacy.

I guess to the old adage "if you're not paying for the product, you are the product" needs to to be updated..... "even if you're paying for the product, you are the product"!
Seems like that's become true now in 2020.