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Avast Free - Spying & Selling Your Data :(

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Wow, this is really sad,
For users of the free version of Avast, I guess this is the developer's scam... err... method to coerce... err attempt to create incentive for users to pay for one of their Avast Premium or Ultimate versions. I might suggest considering a different anti-malware program altogether.​
(Edit comment: Fixed a couple typos - BB)
 
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Wasn't there a same scandal some years back with Avast handling data
 

rtwjunkie

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For users of the free version of Avast, I guess this the developer's scam... err... method to coerce... err to create incentive for users to pay for one of their Avast Premium or Ultimate versions. I might suggest considering a different anti-malware program altogether.
After a dozen years on one PC or another I’ve let Avast go and our whole house is now on Bitdefender Internet Security.
 
D

Deleted member 193706

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About 10 years ago, Avast used to the best free AV IMO though it has since gone downhill, I noticed it when it started to happen and swiftly got rid of it, the same is true for ZoneAlarm firewall, used to be one of the free firewalls out there for many years and then they just turned it to crap, cest la vie
 
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What about Avast internet security bought version is that okay.
 
D

Deleted member 193706

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What about Avast internet security bought version is that okay.
Why would you trust it considering this, is it OK to screw over free users as long as you don't pull the same crap with paid ones? Not exactly a sound business model imo
 
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More reason to just use Windows Defender and Common Sense™ .
 
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I use Windows Defender for my main systems, but I use Kaspersky 2020 on my mum's PC for the online banking virtualisation protecting and link filter. Never really used free AV except Windows. This is really bad, how can they do this? it goes against the ethos of "Cyber security company", no?

this will hurt their reputation and for good. Unless this was made absolutely clear in the TOS, so that users had the option to go "yeah... Nope".

Question: Does this affect the mobile/android version, because my Huawei P20 has some Avast-provided security thing built in?
 

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Looks like the internet is still most definitely the wild west for some companies. A lot of people need to go to jail. Not just over this, but in general :D
 
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Wow, this is really sad,
For users of the free version of Avast, I guess this is the developer's scam... err... method to coerce... err attempt to create incentive for users to pay for one of their Avast Premium or Ultimate versions. I might suggest considering a different anti-malware program altogether.​
(Edit comment: Fixed a couple typos - BB)

Well...er...ain't this a bitch. I've been using the free version of Avast for several years now. I put it on my mom's PC about a year ago as well... I guess I'll be uninstalling it from both PC's now and getting something else.

@rtwjunkie - you mentioned you use Bitdefender Internet Security now. How's your experience been with it?
 
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The last time I had Avast installed was on my mother's computer... for the first 6 months or so it was okay, but at some point it started tossing up so many BS nags like "your computer has 12697 junk files, free 12.6gb of space now." I had to get rid of it. I know because she would text me a picture every time one would come up. All day long, it tries to sell you on this snake oil crap and it's really kinda pitiful, because it's the kind of stuff an uninformed user would see and go right for, not realizing they're kind of getting played. I've seen malware that was less intrusive to the user experience.

That alone kind of makes me not trust them. Everyone's gotta make their money, but when my AV is begging for it so desperately, trying to sell these unrelated services, I get wary. They all do it to some extent, but for some reason it would just not let up on my mother's machine... just full force all of the time trying to convince her of the same nonsense problems all of those "Fix your PC NOW" scams try to peddle.
 

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I was surprised to see bitdefender still around, they were awesome back in the day, 2002 or so. I see Norton is still around, last time I used them they were a huge pile of shit. I would imagine some things don't change. These days I just float at the top and mind my business mostly. I just use the standard stuff on win 10 and my router :oops:
 
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The last time I had Avast installed was on my mother's computer... for the first 6 months or so it was okay, but at some point it started tossing up so many BS nags like "your computer has 12697 junk files, free 12.6gb of space now." I had to get rid of it.

I can confirm this is true, because it does (or did, rather. I immediately uninstalled it after reading this thread) that to me at LEAST twice a day -- this pop up will claim I have X GBs worth of "junk" X number of registry errors, X number of "performance issues" etc, and then if clicked on, it'll lead you to their subscription page and try to sucker you in to paying for their "Pro" package.
 
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I have not use Avast the past 10 years or so and this is bad news...stay away :)
 
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No surprise here, if it's free most often you (or your data) are the product.
 
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people noticed how much money Google makes selling user data on minimally functional freeware and an unregulated market practice so they all copied it
 
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Windows defender is a decent free AV if you can call it free.
It's alright for bundled with Windows 10. You might consider having a backup scanner/malware remover on hand.

My parent's did something to infect their PC with a trojan, and some other search redirect crap in the ProgramData directory. Defender caught the first part but missed the rest with a full scan. Emisoft emergency scanner picked up the rest.
 
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It's alright for bundled with Windows 10. You might consider having a backup scanner/malware remover on hand.

My parent's did something to infect their PC with a trojan, and some other search redirect crap in the ProgramData directory. Defender caught the first part but missed the rest with a full scan. Emisoft emergency scanner picked up the rest.

Indeed and i have more than one backup scanner, three to be exact ;)
 
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Yup, this really shouldn't be a surprise...
It really isn't. Avast's business model has to account for their free versions somehow. They're not like Comodo, Avira or others who offset the costs of their free versions with their premium and business products.

Well...er...ain't this a bitch. I've been using the free version of Avast for several years now. I put it on my mom's PC about a year ago as well... I guess I'll be uninstalling it from both PC's now and getting something else.
You may wish to consider the above mentioned Comodo or Avira. Both have been around for more than a decade, perform at top-tier levels and neither harvest peoples personal data for later sale.
You can download the premium trial and after 30days it reverts to the free version. Of you can buy it, it's worth the money.

 

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people noticed how much money Google makes selling user data on minimally functional freeware and an unregulated market practice so they all copied it

yeah basically every company is doing this, not sure why everyone feels the need to call out Avast for it. hell, even playing games collects and sells your data a lot of times now. I know Civ VI did until they removed it in a later patch.
 
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So its as good as Windows 10 but with better protection against viruses :laugh:

Ive moved from Avast Free to Kaspersky Free on all my Machines

So I guess this also means AVG is the same since they are now owned by Avast?
 
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