FTC bans antivirus giant Avast from selling its users' browsing data to advertisers
FTC bans antivirus giant Avast from selling its users' browsing data to advertisers
Avast closed its Jumpshot subsidiary in 2020 after the antivirus giant was caught selling the browsing activity of millions of its customers.
I don't understand why companies who commit blatant fraud like this aren't required to disgorge all fraudulently earned money. If someone defrauds banks they get fined based on their earnings in a way that hurts. If someone defrauds consumers for "tens of millions of dollars" they are only fined $16M.
Well, actually I do understand, I just don't like it and don't like what it says about this country's priorities.
166By New York state law you are, any "ill gotten gains" must be surrendered. And the fine accumulates interest during any appeals to boot. it's why Trump is getting his nearly half a billion dollar fine. I wish all fraud laws were that way though. I believe most are typically based on common law fraud, and usually there's some kind of flat fine and the the rest is based off provable damages to other parties, rather than the amount of profit.
15Yep. Things don't have to be this way.
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Sounds like avast is malware
146Has been all along.
17Remember kids, if you're not paying for the service you get from a large company, you aren't their customer, you're their product.
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When the antivirus becomes the virus..
116🌎🧑🚀🔫🧑🚀
59they always been
25I remember a long time ago when Avast came highly recommended, at least back when I had gone looking for reviews. Back when antivirus was still more or less a necessity.
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Oh, that's good now do Microsoft
37Or google.
16Or ... reddit.
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Browser data being sold by Microsoft. Which browser? Edge, built on a platform that isn't Microsoft's? I get that you don't like Microsoft but this is just slander based off nothingness. Please give 1 shred of evidence other than "Microsoft bad".
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How the mighty have fallen
24I remember when Avast was considered the least shit or at least, one of the less shit options for Antivirus. Pretty much seems all those antivirus products are just malware with marketing teams now.
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19Or: use linux and don't be a dumbass. I know, it sounds elitist, but I've been around a long, long time on the internet and I probably haven't used antivirus this millennia and the only problem I've ever had was one kodi addon mining bitcoin (inside a sandboxed environment).
21Linux users keep saying you don't need antivirus on Linux and that Linux is more secure and safe. This intrigues me, as I'm moving to Linux, but I never hear any technical reasons as to why this would be. All I see is "there are no viruses because it's a small platform". That's not an argument for the security of the platform so I'm curious to know if there are any technical reasons Linux would be more secure. Every now and then I read about some malware for Linux, so they do definitely exist.
11I think it's the "don't be a dumbass" that's important, not the OS choice really. I haven't had a 3rd party virus scanner in at least a decade on Windows and have never had a virus or malware.
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Oh boy, I sure do hope this happens to other companies that do it!
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9I haven't used any antivirus on Windows since 2008, generally doing whatever I want and just not being stupid about it, and I've had no issues.
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If you're gonna pay for Antivirus, shout out to ESET NOD32.
They have gotten a bit expensive though. I'm buying a 1 year sub for $10 on Black Friday.
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