Poll

In light of the recent news about Avast selling our data, what will you do?

Uninstall immediately and find another product.
29 (49.2%)
Go to settings and opt out of all data sharing.
15 (25.4%)
Wait until my subscription expires and go with another product.
7 (11.9%)
Nothing, I'm ok with it.
7 (11.9%)
I don't know what this is about.
1 (1.7%)

Total Members Voted: 59

Author Topic: Recent news about Avast selling our data  (Read 28193 times)

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Offline schmidthouse

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Re: Recent news about Avast selling our data
« Reply #45 on: February 01, 2020, 07:45:33 PM »
I'm still a bit confused? So they found out that the information sold by Jumpshot (Avast) revealed that they visited a porn site.
I'm sure that there are many that fit that category. It didn't identify the individual. It simply reported someone visited a certain porn site.
What's the big deal? What am I missing.  :o
There's ways the data can actually be analyzed and linked back to a person's real identity, potentially revealing every website the user visited, including the search terms made and other info.

You might want to read by an author that has nothing to do with Avast.
https://sparktoro.com/blog/avasts-shutdown-of-jumpshot-will-harm-the-web-and-the-world/

An interesting attempt by the author, however I don't agree with the Premise.
There are many other opportunities and outlets to collect data besides through Avast.
Data will be and is always collected when using the internet.
Doesn't have to be via Avast

Offline bob3160

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Re: Recent news about Avast selling our data
« Reply #46 on: February 01, 2020, 07:50:43 PM »
"Data will be and is always collected when using the internet.Doesn't have to be via Avast"
So it's OK if it's collected when using the internet but not when that same information comes via Avast?
I don't think that's what you meant to convey. 
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Offline schmidthouse

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Re: Recent news about Avast selling our data
« Reply #47 on: February 01, 2020, 07:57:03 PM »
"Data will be and is always collected when using the internet.Doesn't have to be via Avast"
So it's OK if it's collected when using the internet but not when that same information comes via Avast?
I don't think that's what you meant to convey. 

Hi Bob
In my understanding, the author was asserting that the web and the world will be harmed by the shutting down of Jumpshot by parent company Avast.
I don't agree.  :)

Offline NotARobot

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Re: Recent news about Avast selling our data
« Reply #48 on: February 01, 2020, 07:59:32 PM »
I'm using the free Mac version 14.3.  Under Preferences --> Privacy I had unchecked all of the options there.

However, every time I reboot my computer the checkbox for "Allow usage data to be shared with 3rd parties for analytics" gets RE-CHECKED!

I'm REALLY tempted to uninstall Avast and find something else, but we don't really know what the other antivirus companies are doing either.  Especially the ones based here in the United States where there are almost no laws they have to follow regarding data collection.  I had hoped that a company based in the EU, and under the GDPR law, would hold itself to and be held to a higher standard, but I saw the article with the supposedly "anonymized" data and agree it could easily be de-anonymized by combining it with data the companies that were buying it already had because it used persistent IDs and timestamps.
« Last Edit: February 01, 2020, 08:03:31 PM by NotARobot »

Offline bob3160

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Re: Recent news about Avast selling our data
« Reply #49 on: February 01, 2020, 08:03:40 PM »
"Data will be and is always collected when using the internet.Doesn't have to be via Avast"
So it's OK if it's collected when using the internet but not when that same information comes via Avast?
I don't think that's what you meant to convey. 

Hi Bob
In my understanding, the author was asserting that the web and the world will be harmed by the shutting down of Jumpshot by parent company Avast.
I don't agree.  :)
It was because of the data from Avast that Jumpshot was able to shed light on Googles's anti competitive practices.
I'm think that was the reference.
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Offline schmidthouse

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Re: Recent news about Avast selling our data
« Reply #50 on: February 01, 2020, 08:09:46 PM »
"Data will be and is always collected when using the internet.Doesn't have to be via Avast"
So it's OK if it's collected when using the internet but not when that same information comes via Avast?
I don't think that's what you meant to convey. 

Hi Bob
In my understanding, the author was asserting that the web and the world will be harmed by the shutting down of Jumpshot by parent company Avast.
I don't agree.  :)
It was because of the data from Avast that Jumpshot was able to shed light on Googles's anti competitive practices.
I'm think that was the reference.

Yes and I think VLK and Avast have done the 'right thing'
In this day and age doing the right things can come at a cost.

Offline Asyn

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Re: Recent news about Avast selling our data
« Reply #51 on: February 01, 2020, 08:21:44 PM »
I'm using the free Mac version 14.3.  Under Preferences --> Privacy I had unchecked all of the options there.
However, every time I reboot my computer the checkbox for "Allow usage data to be shared with 3rd parties for analytics" gets RE-CHECKED!
-> https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=231125.msg1534173#msg1534173
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Offline Para-Noid

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Re: Recent news about Avast selling our data
« Reply #52 on: February 01, 2020, 08:28:29 PM »
A message from Avast CEO Ondrej Vlcek
https://blog.avast.com/a-message-from-ceo-ondrej-vlcek

This is "closing the barn door after the horse bolted."

From the Vivaldi blog (https://vivaldi.com/blog/how-we-stand-up-to-giants/)...

Quote...

"We believe that businesses should not be allowed to sell personal information to third parties. Companies should also be prohibited from using personal information for targeted advertising. Personal information should only be used to provide the service you signed up for."

Period. Enough said.
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Offline chris..

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Re: Recent news about Avast selling our data
« Reply #53 on: February 01, 2020, 08:36:41 PM »
I'm still waiting for some proof that I can actually be identified in the information that was collected.

Come on Bob. I've been reading your posts forever and you're clearly a smart guy. If let's say Amazon buys data from av Jumpshot they get info on what a certain Avast ID did on their page at a certain time. For example clicked on an advert for a new iPhone. By cross-reference Amazon can easily see what Avast ID belongs to what IP or even customer that clicked on that advert at the exact same time. That anonymous Avast ID is worthless.

IMHO at the moment this is just a convincing concept, not a proof

Yes , You can turn the problem upside down (all over the web), Bob's right, you won't give proof, otherwise you don't belong here.
You can only get a feeling or an approach to it.
For the approach, we must already believe what some scientists say about the possibilities of using AI, especially with "Machine Learning" algorithms.
As written in the article (in french but there is a US TV vidéo inside)
Quote
Based on the result, more than 99% of Americans could be successfully re-identified from any data set containing at least 15 demographic attributes such as age, gender, or marital status.
Moreover, it's when all of an individual's anonymous data is sold in bulk, we don't know that for Jumpshot.?

I have no idea what the verification tool in the article says because you have to be either American or English.

Offline digmor crusher

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Re: Recent news about Avast selling our data
« Reply #54 on: February 01, 2020, 09:23:29 PM »
Avast is sorry... sorry they got caught. Apologies after the fact are meaningless.

Offline DavidR

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Re: Recent news about Avast selling our data
« Reply #55 on: February 01, 2020, 09:36:20 PM »
Avast is sorry... sorry they got caught. Apologies after the fact are meaningless.

Would you rather they said nothing, as that is it implication.  Which would probably pi55-off even more people.
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Offline Kermit80

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Re: Recent news about Avast selling our data
« Reply #56 on: February 02, 2020, 12:03:50 AM »
As written in the article (in french but there is a US TV vidéo inside)
Quote
Based on the result, more than 99% of Americans could be successfully re-identified from any data set containing at least 15 demographic attributes such as age, gender, or marital status.
Moreover, it's when all of an individual's anonymous data is sold in bulk, we don't know that for Jumpshot.?

the article refers to anonymous datasets which is different from aggregated data as used by Jumpshot. Aggregated data is more like summary statistics:

https://medium.com/infosum/why-aggregated-data-benefits-everyone-in-a-gdpr-world-476416445b73

Moreover, browsing history does not contain demographic data (AFAIK) such as that mentioned in the article. You would need quite a bit of browsing history (not aggregated) just to predict demographic informations.
« Last Edit: February 02, 2020, 12:06:20 AM by Kermit80 »

Offline digmor crusher

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Re: Recent news about Avast selling our data
« Reply #57 on: February 02, 2020, 06:15:59 AM »
Avast is sorry... sorry they got caught. Apologies after the fact are meaningless.

Would you rather they said nothing, as that is it implication.  Which would probably pi55-off even more people.

They shouldn't have done it in the first place, now they got caught and apologize. Its like me robbing your house, say nothing until the police catch me and then I apologize to you hoping the courts will go easy on me.

Offline Kermit80

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Re: Recent news about Avast selling our data
« Reply #58 on: February 02, 2020, 08:37:39 AM »
They shouldn't have done it in the first place,

That's right!

Quote
now they got caught and apologize. Its like me robbing your house, say nothing until the police catch me and then I apologize to you hoping the courts will go easy on me.

I don't get this part, sorry. it's just that I may be missing some facts.
The opt-in mechanism was there. I clearly recall being asked for consensus (which I didn't give) when I installed. I don't feel they tried to steal anything from me.

Offline RejZoR

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Re: Recent news about Avast selling our data
« Reply #59 on: February 02, 2020, 10:33:56 AM »
They shouldn't have done it in the first place,

That's right!

Quote
now they got caught and apologize. Its like me robbing your house, say nothing until the police catch me and then I apologize to you hoping the courts will go easy on me.

I don't get this part, sorry. it's just that I may be missing some facts.
The opt-in mechanism was there. I clearly recall being asked for consensus (which I didn't give) when I installed. I don't feel they tried to steal anything from me.

I remember avast! asking for data sharing when installing it months ago now that I think of it. Hm. Everyone can't say "but you did it without my knowledge" when there was a dialog. Unless there were changes with it along the way as they often change installer content on the fly as it's online type of installer...
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