7 ms·

Avast ordered to stop selling browsing data from its browsing privacy apps

53 points by AdmiralAsshat 3y ago

hot_gril 3y ago
Oh my, I remember Avast. Fastest I ever nuked an HDD was after seeing it on there.
- o11c 3y ago
  I remember Avast from when it was still in the "earn a good reputation" phase rather than the "sell out, obnoxiously" phase.
HtmlProgrammer 3y ago
To think I used to recommend Avast to people over paying for Norton or Mcafee (RIP)
- EA-3167 3y ago
  Same here, but to be fair it was a totally different age. These days anyone selling consumer antivirus is right up there with people selling "hydrogen water" to rubes. The whole landscape of PC security has changed so much!
  - snapplebobapple 3y ago
    What do you recommend now? I love crowdstrike at work but they don't appear to have a home user option so I've been recommending eset nod32. Wondering if there's somethign better for the home user?
    - quickslowdown 3y ago
      Personally, I run Windows Pro specifically so I can disable antivirus. I run occasional (weekly) scans, and every now and then (maybe once a month) add a Malwarebytes scan into the mix. Built-in AV is plenty, and in my experience needs tuned so it's not as aggressive.
      - snapplebobapple 3y ago
        ahh, you don't have enough olds or youngs on your support list, lol. Crowdstrike has saved me at work numerous times from the over 55 crowd's inability to comprehend basic security practices and not having it at home has meant a few times completely wiping windows and restarting for my under 15 nieces and nephews.
        t-writescode 3y ago
        BitDefender has saved *me* from misclicks, even. No one is perfect and it's not really much of a tax on my system at all, in my experience. I'm still happy to use good antiviruses, honestly.
        quickslowdown 3y ago
        That makes sense, and I'm not trying to say AV is useless, only that I personally am not willing to make the "performance hit for security" that comes with AV products. My machine is likely powerful enough to allow real time protection, but my history of low power machines has made it more of a force of habit to just shut it off completely.
        quickslowdown 3y ago
        I'm only talking about my personal machine here, we have Palo Alto at work (a forced downgrade from Sophos), but at home AV only gets in the way for me, so I opt to disable real time protection and just run scans regularly on my own.
pjs_ 3y ago
[flagged]
- tomrod 3y ago
  What in the article do you consider slander? Everything appears to be well-sourced and factual. If Avast has been selling re-identifiable data, that's a big deal and everyone should know. I've long appreciated Ars journalism for its thoroughness and -- more importantly -- improvement when called out.
- DueDilligence 3y ago
  [dead]
- phmqk76 3y ago
  Found the guy who works for Avast!
ChrisArchitect 3y ago
[dupe] More discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39470189 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39470189 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39475851 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39475851
dreamcompiler 3y ago
This is an old form of grift: "Pay us $X per month and we'll protect you from thieves. (Except for us of course.)" Apple is doing the same thing today: "Use our products and we'll protect you from people who would snoop your private data. (Except for us of course.)"

53 points by AdmiralAsshat 3y ago

hot_gril 3y ago

Oh my, I remember Avast. Fastest I ever nuked an HDD was after seeing it on there.

o11c 3y ago
I remember Avast from when it was still in the "earn a good reputation" phase rather than the "sell out, obnoxiously" phase.

HtmlProgrammer 3y ago

To think I used to recommend Avast to people over paying for Norton or Mcafee (RIP)

EA-3167 3y ago
Same here, but to be fair it was a totally different age. These days anyone selling consumer antivirus is right up there with people selling "hydrogen water" to rubes. The whole landscape of PC security has changed so much!
- snapplebobapple 3y ago
  What do you recommend now? I love crowdstrike at work but they don't appear to have a home user option so I've been recommending eset nod32. Wondering if there's somethign better for the home user?
  - quickslowdown 3y ago
    Personally, I run Windows Pro specifically so I can disable antivirus. I run occasional (weekly) scans, and every now and then (maybe once a month) add a Malwarebytes scan into the mix. Built-in AV is plenty, and in my experience needs tuned so it's not as aggressive.
    - snapplebobapple 3y ago
      ahh, you don't have enough olds or youngs on your support list, lol. Crowdstrike has saved me at work numerous times from the over 55 crowd's inability to comprehend basic security practices and not having it at home has meant a few times completely wiping windows and restarting for my under 15 nieces and nephews.
      - t-writescode 3y ago
        BitDefender has saved *me* from misclicks, even. No one is perfect and it's not really much of a tax on my system at all, in my experience. I'm still happy to use good antiviruses, honestly.
        quickslowdown 3y ago
        That makes sense, and I'm not trying to say AV is useless, only that I personally am not willing to make the "performance hit for security" that comes with AV products. My machine is likely powerful enough to allow real time protection, but my history of low power machines has made it more of a force of habit to just shut it off completely.
      - quickslowdown 3y ago
        I'm only talking about my personal machine here, we have Palo Alto at work (a forced downgrade from Sophos), but at home AV only gets in the way for me, so I opt to disable real time protection and just run scans regularly on my own.

pjs_ 3y ago

[flagged]

tomrod 3y ago
What in the article do you consider slander? Everything appears to be well-sourced and factual. If Avast has been selling re-identifiable data, that's a big deal and everyone should know. I've long appreciated Ars journalism for its thoroughness and -- more importantly -- improvement when called out.
DueDilligence 3y ago
[dead]
phmqk76 3y ago
Found the guy who works for Avast!

ChrisArchitect 3y ago

[dupe] More discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39470189 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39470189 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39475851 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39475851

dreamcompiler 3y ago

This is an old form of grift: "Pay us $X per month and we'll protect you from thieves. (Except for us of course.)" Apple is doing the same thing today: "Use our products and we'll protect you from people who would snoop your private data. (Except for us of course.)"