AV company sold user data, fined 15,250,000€

[Maik]

FTC to ban Avast from selling browsing data for advertising purposes

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will order Avast to pay $16.5 million and ban the company from selling the users' web browsing data or licensing it for advertising purposes.

The complaint says Avast violated millions of consumers' rights by collecting, storing, and selling their browsing data without their knowledge and consent while misleading them that the products used to harvest their data would block online tracking.

More specifically, the FTC says UK-based company Avast Limited harvested consumers' web browsing information without their knowledge or consent using Avast browser extensions and antivirus software since at least 2014.

Avast also purportedly misled users by promising to protect their privacy by blocking third-party tracking. However, it failed to inform them that their detailed, re-identifiable browsing data would be sold.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/ftc-to-ban-avast-from-selling-browsing-data-for-advertising-purposes/