Blog Post

AVG can sell your browsing history to third parties

Oct 20, 2015

AVG - one of the world's largest computer security firms - has come under fire recently for their newly updated privacy policy. The issue in question that’s caught the eye of privacy advocates, is that they can now retain the browsing history of their users, and have the ability to sell that information on to third parties.
Their policy states the following;


"We collect non-personal data to make money from our free offerings so we can keep them free, including:
• Advertising ID associated with your device;
• Browsing and search history, including meta data;
• Internet service provider or mobile network you use to connect to our products; and
• Information regarding other applications you may have on your device and how they are used.

Sometimes browsing history or search history contains terms that might identify you. If we become aware that part of your browsing history might identify you, we will treat that portion of your history as personal data, and will anonymise this information."

Metadata is a powerful tool for identifying and tracking people, it’s what the NSA was collecting en-masse from around the world for just that purpose. As AVG classify browsing, search history and metadata as non-personal data they have the ability to share it with third parties:

Do you share my data?
Yes, though when and how we share it depends on whether it is personal data or non-personal data. AVG may share non-personal data with third parties and may publicly display aggregate or anonymous information.

Thankfully, they also state that users do have a way to opt out, by following the instructions on their website here.
The impact that this will have on AVG, who are the world’s third largest antivirus vendor, remains to be seen. As most people are used to clicking on ‘Agree’ for license agreements and privacy policies without really reading the fine print; it is unlikely many users will have any idea of their acceptance of this practice.

If you currently run AVG’s antivirus software, our tech team would be happy to provide assistance with this or similar features. Alternatively, consider switching to our managed antivirus solution, and avoid the risk altogether!


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