When Palant looked at the data being sent to Avast's servers he found it included the full address of the page visited, the page title, address of the referer page, identifier for the window and tab ID loading the page, how you got to the page (bookmark, typed address, etc.), if you have visited the page before, country code, two different unique user IDs, browser type, and operating system used including version number. These will be available as usual on the Mozilla store in the near future."
We have already implemented some of Mozilla's new requirements and will release further updated versions that are fully compliant and transparent per the new requirements. Avast does this without collecting or storing a user's identification. It is necessary for this service to collect the URL history to deliver its expected functionality. Palant believes it's this technology Avast is using in its browser extensions to collect the data.Īn Avast spokesperson told ZDNet the following, "The Avast Online Security extension is a security tool that protects users online, including from infected websites and phishing attacks. If you use that browser, your data is being collected.īack in 2013, Avast acquired the company Jumpshot which created a "clickstream data" product able to collect very detailed data from millions of online users. Another area of concern is the Avast Secure Browser, which has the Avast Online Security extension installed by default and hidden from the extension listing.
Best Hosted Endpoint Protection and Security SoftwareĪ new post by Palant this week confirms that both Mozilla and Opera have removed Avast's extensions, however, Google hasn't yet, meaning data is still being collected by anyone using Chrome with the Avast extensions installed.
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