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Avast fined $16.5 million for ‘privacy’ software that actually sold users’ browsing data

Avast, the cybersecurity software company, is facing a $16.5 million fine after it was caught storing and selling customer information without their consent. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced the fine on Thursday and said that it’s banning Avast from selling user data for advertising purposes.

ggnoredo ,
@ggnoredo@lemm.ee avatar

who the f*ck uses Avast in 2024? I get it you use Windows for reasons but anti virus software? really?

the_post_of_tom_joad ,

I keep telling my mom this, that antivirus is a joke. But every time i visit to fix her slow computer there's at least one program running

MonkderZweite ,

Why downvotes? Shitshows' integrated AV is good enough.

Kinglink ,

Jesus Christ.

Remember when Google's Motto was "Don't be Evil" It was supposed to be a jab at Microsoft, but it feels like every year tech companies find news ways to just be fucking evil.

PS. Google kind of fails to live up to that motto too, I don't even know if it's still an official motto.

MaggiWuerze ,

I don’t even know if it’s still an official motto.

It's not

redcalcium ,

Google execs knew this motto will just get in the way of maximizing profits for shareholders, so they dropped it a few years ago.

Imgonnatrythis ,

Kind of?
They would happily sell your mother heroine and auction off her house. They fail at not being evil like Antarctica fails at being hospitable to palm trees.

roofuskit ,

Corporations have no soul to damn and no body to incarcerate.

the_post_of_tom_joad ,

No they officially (quietly) dropped it like a decade ago

TheOctonaut ,

No, they didn't. Alphabet was created as a parent company in 2015 and uses the similarly vague "Do the right thing" in their code of conduct. Google itself still has "Don't be evil" in their code of conduct, unchanged. Google needed Alphabet to not be Google (or they'd get fined to hell) so having everything identical wouldn't have been a smart idea.

That this easily Google-able myth is so pervasive is a wonderful microcosm about online gullibility and laziness.

the_post_of_tom_joad ,

https://gizmodo.com/google-removes-nearly-all-mentions-of-dont-be-evil-from-1826153393

Wow literally the first thing i searched.

And get fucked for your tone you pedantic little punk.

TheOctonaut , (edited )

Read your own article all the way to the bottom ❤️

(Also thank you for citing a fucking Gizmodo article from 2018 instead of the actual Google Code of Conduct which is the top result for "Google Code of Conduct to prove my point about laziness beautifully. Please note, you'll have to read all the way to the end again, sorry. https://abc.xyz/investor/google-code-of-conduct/)

Promethiel ,
@Promethiel@lemmy.world avatar

Love the vibe and energy against pretense for pretense sakes, but your source makes you seem demented as it literally repeats exactly what they said if you read it.

the_post_of_tom_joad , (edited )

Well fuck me then lol. Swhat i get for linking gizmodo. I'll take the L. Still that guy sucked and i won't unblock him

systemglitch ,

I too love blocking people who make reading this place shittier.

MiDaBa ,

I'm all for crapping on large publicly traded companies but lumping Google in with companies that sell your data isn't honest. Google does not and never has sold user data. They sure as hell use your data for their own ad network but they do not sell that data wholesale. Meta and other data brokers sell your data and this Avast company sells your data through a product they claimed stopped tracking. I'm not pro-Google but to compare their business model (which is very transparent about how it handles your data and how it's never sold) to Avast's business model (which is to completely lie to the end user while literally selling everything that user does) is not an honest comparison.

Sibbo ,

Ah, the snake oil turned out to be poisonous.

HootinNHollerin ,

They definitely made more than that selling data what a fucking joke

db2 ,

F*C fines are just protection money payments.

MaggiWuerze ,

And I'm sure that fine was as high or higher than the profit they made from the data... what, it wasn't?!

Interstellar_1 ,
@Interstellar_1@pawb.social avatar

That's horrifying. I remember using the avast private browser when I was younger as to not get tracked by Google chrome, but i was just getting tracked by avast instead. :(

r00ty ,
@r00ty@kbin.life avatar

It's capitalism. You get to choose who steals your personal data.

THE_ANTIHERO ,
@THE_ANTIHERO@lemmy.today avatar

Unless you use a trusted firefox fork

the_post_of_tom_joad ,

I kinda feel like capitalism is treating me like a lemon thief these days.

Slovene ,

You lemon stealing whore!

Morefan ,

False choice. Self hosting is an option, and not even that difficult these days.

People are lazy.

autotldr Bot ,

This is the best summary I could come up with:

Avast, the cybersecurity software company, is facing a $16.5 million fine after it was caught storing and selling customer information without their consent.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced the fine on Thursday and said that it’s banning Avast from selling user data for advertising purposes.

From at least 2014 to 2020, Avast harvested user web browsing information through its antivirus software and browser extension, according to the FTC’s complaint.

“We are committed to our mission of protecting and empowering people’s digital lives,” Avast spokesperson Jess Monney said in a statement to The Verge.

“While we disagree with the FTC’s allegations and characterization of the facts, we are pleased to resolve this matter and look forward to continuing to serve our millions of customers around the world.”

In January, the FTC reached a settlement with Outlogic (formerly X-Mode Social) that prevents the data broker from selling information that can be used to track users’ locations.

The original article contains 398 words, the summary contains 155 words. Saved 61%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

noorbeast ,

“While we disagree with the FTC’s allegations and characterization of the facts, we are pleased to resolve this matter and look forward to continuing to serve our millions of customers around the world.”...translation, we regret being caught but look forward to the opportunity of exploring alternate ways to exploiting consumers for profit.

krimson ,
@krimson@feddit.nl avatar

Good bot.

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