Avast Sold Data To Google And Microsoft For Millions of Dollars

For the wrong reasons, Avast, a well-known anti-virus and Internet security software service, is in the news. It is confirmed that the organization has sold the data of its users to major tech companies in the world. Investigations by PC Mag and Motherboard have reported that Avast, willing to raise millions of dollars, has turned over user data to other major companies like Google and Microsoft. Data transfer was carried out in a subsidiary company The company collected data from computers from users using avast anti-virus worldwide and moved it to its subsidiary Jump-shot. Jump-shot sold this data to bundle-ready companies that wanted to improve their products and target ads through customer data. In some cases, this data has been sold for millions of dollars.

The companies to which Avast sold the data include a number of other major companies such as Google, Home Depot, Microsoft, Pepsi, Expedia, Yelp, Lauriel. The data sold included information on Google searches for apps, location searches on maps, and activity on LinkedIn and YouTube. Not only that, data on porn websites searched by users has also been sold to businesses.

In order to collect data, Avast asked users to opt for data sharing. In most instances, consumers did not know that their avast data was about to be sold to third parties. Experts say that even if avast removed the user’s personal data before selling the data, there is a great deal of apprehension that some data could be used to classify users.

After the news of Avast’s sale of the data came out, the companies Avast sold the data to escape the issue. Microsoft said it no longer has a link to Jump-shot. At the same time, Google has not yet received any response in this matter.