Google has yet to respond to the report.Mozilla has allowed the AVG and Avast Online Security extensions back into their addons site after the extensions reduced the amount of tracking data being sent to Avast's and AVG's servers. Opera has already removed the extensions for its web store while Mozilla has only blacklisted them pending communication with Avast. Whether it does use that data for such purposes, Avast’s data collection activities run afoul of browsers’ privacy policies. It gives Jumpshot’s customers data about “100 million global online shoppers” with almost the same pieces of data collected by Avast’s browser extensions. Palant’s research led him in the direction of “clickstream data analysis” company Jumpshot that was also acquired by Avast not too long ago. These are the activities of spyware that Avast is supposed to protect users against.
While it might be understandable that the extension sends Avast the URL of a web page you are visiting to check it against their database, it doesn’t exactly have any business knowing how you got there, how many times you go there, how much time you spend on that page, and, more importantly, what you click on. Security researcher Wladimir Palant reported last October that Avast web browser extensions, both for security as well as doing price checks, are sending home more data than they should have access to.
Ironically, however, those don’t keep users safe from Avast itself. Some that don’t even need a full suite may have found themselves installing just a browser extension to keep them safe. It may not be one of the biggest names in the software security market but Avast and AVG gained a following thanks to their offer of free or affordable anti-malware software.
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