Säkerhetsprogrammet Avast avslöjas med att samla in och sälja information om sina användare, skriver Motherboard och PC Mag som gjort en gemensam undersökning av hur programmet fungerar, vilka data som samlas in och vad som händer med informationen.

Undersökningen visar att Avast samlar in varje klick, varje webbplats som besöks ich detta oavsett om du använder gratisversionen eller betalt för Avast. All data säljs via dotterbolaget Jumpshot och kunder är Google, Yelp, Microsoft, McKinsey, Pepsi, Sephora, Home Depot, Condé Nast och Intui.

An Avast antivirus subsidiary sells ’Every search. Every click. Every buy. On every site.’ Its clients have included Home Depot, Google, Microsoft, Pepsi, and McKinsey.

Motherboard

Populäraste

Avast är ett av de mest populära säkerhetsprogrammen för Mac ich det används av hundratals miljoner användare:

An antivirus program used by hundreds of millions of people around the world is selling highly sensitive web browsing data to many of the world’s biggest companies, a joint investigation by Motherboard and PCMag has found. Our report relies on leaked user data, contracts, and other company documents that show the sale of this data is both highly sensitive and is in many cases supposed to remain confidential between the company selling the data and the clients purchasing it.

The documents, from a subsidiary of the antivirus giant Avast called Jumpshot, shine new light on the secretive sale and supply chain of peoples’ internet browsing histories. They show that the Avast antivirus program installed on a person’s computer collects data, and that Jumpshot repackages it into various different products that are then sold to many of the largest companies in the world. Some past, present, and potential clients include Google, Yelp, Microsoft, McKinsey, Pepsi, Sephora, Home Depot, Condé Nast, Intuit, and many others. Some clients paid millions of dollars for products that include a so-called ”All Clicks Feed,” which can track user behavior, clicks, and movement across websites in highly precise detail.

Även om informationen inte innehåller information om användarens namn så menar säkerhetsexperter att individer mycket väl kan identifieras utifrån den information som samlas in.