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A joint investigation by PCMag and Motherboard revealed that Avast collected user data through their antivirus products, then packaged and sold it to other companies through a subsidiary named Jumpshot. This web browsing data may include Google searches, watched videos, visited websites, and downloaded files.
Avast closes Jumpshot after being accused
Avast collecting user data is nothing new, as four of their browser extensions were recently removed from Google and Mozilla's extension stores after being caught tracking massive amounts of data. The latest revelation indicates that the security company is also using its antivirus software to track data of over 400 million users and packaging it for sale to other companies.
Avast's subsidiary Jumpshot shutting down
In an open letter from Avast's CEO, Ondrej Vlcek, the antivirus company apologizes to users and announces the closure of its subsidiary, Jumpshot.
Vlcek declared in a message posted on Avast's blog: 'Protecting people is Avast's top priority and that must be enforced in everything we do in business and in our products. Anything to the contrary is unacceptable. For these reasons, I - along with the board of directors - have decided to shut down Jumpshot's data collection and end Jumpshot's operations, effective immediately'.
Avast also emphasizes that Jumpshot complies 100% with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and operates independently with its own management and board of directors, who have built the service from data provided by Avast.
Vlcek added: 'Jumpshot has operated as an independent company from the start, with its own management and board of directors in building products and services through data supplied by Avast's antivirus products'. 'Throughout those years, both Avast and Jumpshot have operated entirely within legal boundaries - and we welcomed the introduction of GDPR in the EU in May 2018, as it provides a strict legal framework on how companies should treat customer data. And Jumpshot is committed to 100% GDPR compliance'.
This announcement may have come too late. While this may not significantly affect Avast's free antivirus services, it could lead to a 'migration' of business customers concerned about this behavior to other products.
