AVG's update to their Privacy Policy

[Timmy-P]

To my understanding, AVG's Anti-virus suite is a popular one.  And I just noticed that they are updating their privacy policy:

http://www.avg.com/us-en/privacy-new?A=P2h4diBMPTRVOVMzLTRCUklMLUdWUFU2LUE3M01LLUM3VzZXLUQgST03Ny0yNDQ3MTA5NjA3IExORz11cyBWPTIwMTUwNjA4NiBPU1Y9Ni4zLjk2MDAgT1M9WFhYWFg2NCBTU1A9MC4wIE1JRD1jZWU1YWUzMWI2MDc0N2NkOWQ3ZjZmZjUwMDY1ZGQ4ZS1hZDE0OTFiZTJjZTZjMTIyZjZiNjZmYWE5MGU3MGMyZGVjZjdkMzRjIEJFPTIxMTk4OTMzIEFJPTAgUFJUWVBFPTkwIExUPTEgVUlEPSBBSUQ9IEFDQ0lEPTAgU0lEPWRlZl91cGcxNWlzdHJpYWx2Mg&UIID=38-na-Privacy+Policy+Update

 

In short:

 

-They collect both personal and non-personal data

-It is not shared with 3rd parties unless given consent, "except in limited circumstances."

-When asked, they will detail how your data is processed and will correct/delete data, as well as opt out of "certain" data collection of use.

 

I think this last one, in my opinion, is very important; obviously, if someone misinterprets your information, what can result may go awry, especially when you're being profiled and such.  Not sharing with 3rd parties is a nice touch as well.

 

Thoughts?

[deviant88]

And so it begins, microsoft started the retarded trend, prepare for every piece of software you ever buy or get for free to collect data and profile you.

[Kurosaki Isshin]

And so it begins, microsoft started the retarded trend, prepare for every piece of software you ever buy or get for free to collect data and profile you.

phone apps have been doing it for a bit. ever run across a flash light app that required access to your contacts? lol

[Trik'Stari]

Well, they are agreeing to detail the information collected when asked, and also allow you to correct or delete data and opt out of certain things.

 

Better than Microsoft's bullshit policy of "you are our bitch"

[FakezZ]

Well, they are agreeing to detail the information collected when asked, and also allow you to correct or delete data and opt out of certain things.

 

Better than Microsoft's bullshit policy of "you are our bitch"

This is why we NEED Linux to do well. I won't even go to an argument wether it is better than Windows or not, but if Linux had a significant marketshare in the desktop market, Microsoft wouldn't pull off shit like that. Right now, yeah we are their little bitches, because it is pretty much a one-way road gaming-wise.

[Bouzoo]

And so it begins, microsoft started the retarded trend, prepare for every piece of software you ever buy or get for free to collect data and profile you.

Unfortunately this has been a thing before Win 10, there are apps that have been doing things like this for a long time. Not to mention companies like Google and Facebook have a head start on MS.

[Trik'Stari]

This is why we NEED Linux to do well. I won't even go to an argument wether it is better than Windows or not, but if Linux had a significant marketshare in the desktop market, Microsoft wouldn't pull off shit like that. Right now, yeah we are their little bitches, because it is pretty much a one-way road gaming-wise.

For privacy and control. Linux is better than everything because it's open source. For daily use? It needs more support.

[PatrikStar24]

In their new privacy policy they state in the section "What do you collect that cannot identify me?"

http://www.avg.com/gb-en/privacy-new?A=#what-do-you-collect-that-cannot-identify-me

Even though they state that if they find that could identify you then they will remove it. but they only say if they will remove it if they can detect it.

We collect non-personal data to make money from our free offerings so we can keep them free, including: Advertising ID associated with your devices Browsing and search history, including meta data; Internet service provider or mobile network you use to connect to our products; and Information regarding other applications you may have on your device and how they are used. Sometimes browsing history or search history contains terms that might identify you. If we become aware that part of your browsing history might identify you, we will treat that portion of your history as personal data, and will anonymize this information. We may also aggregate and/or anonymize personal data we collect about you. For instance, although we would consider your precise location to be personal data if stored separately, if we combined the locations of our users into a data set that could only tell us how many users were located in a particular country, we would not consider this aggregated information to be personally identifiable.

 

They later state in "Do you share my data?"
 

http://www.avg.com/gb-en/privacy-new?A=#do-you-share-my-data

 

Yes, though when and how we share it depends on whether it is personal data or non-personal data. AVG may share non-personal data with third parties and may publicly display aggregate or anonymous information.

"What rights do I have over my data?"

http://www.avg.com/gb-en/privacy-new?A=#what-rights-do-i-have-over-my-data

 

You have the right to opt out of the use or collection of certain data, including personal data and non-personal data, by following the instructions here. http://www.avg.com/gb-en/privacy-preferences That link just takes you to instructions on how opt out of the new letter newsletter.

Two people were interviewed by Wired regarding this revelation:

From Alexander Hanff, chief executive at Think Privacy:

It is utterly unethical to the highest degree and a complete and total abuse of the trust we give our security software

 

From Orla Lynskey, a data protection and IT law expert from London School of Economics:
 

It appears that AVG is adopting a generous interpretation of the data protection rules in order to justify its data use policy," Lynskey argued. "Although some of the data they classify as 'non-personal' might not identify individuals directly, they may be indirectly identifiable based on that data.

AVG claims you can opt out once the policy goes live on October 15th.

I found this to be quite ridiculous. I uninstalled AVG and switched to Avira, best decision I ever made. My computer now boots a whopping 30 seconds faster.

Sources: https://np.reddit.com/r/privacy/comments/3l4apg/avg_anti_virus_just_updated_there_privacy_policy/

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2015-09/17/avg-privacy-policy-browser-search-data

[Whorax]

Don't most EULAs make you agree to this?

Yeah, fairly certain most everything does.

 

Nonetheless, I stopped using AVG years ago because it kinda sucks in the grand scheme of things.

[Guest Kloaked]

Don't most EULAs make you agree to this?

 

Yes, but most people tend to overreact over their data, even when it becomes anonymous data.

 

However, I do understand the perspective.

[KemoKa]

This is why I generally do not use antivirus software, and also because I clear out my own viruses and malware. AVG never helped me anyway.

[manikyath]

Don't most EULAs make you agree to this?

the thing is, what does AVG have to do with your browsing history? it doesnt plug into your browser as far as i know.

[TomvanWijnen]

At least they are honest and open about it...

 

That doesn't mean they should do it though.

[Aruxx]

the thing is, what does AVG have to do with your browsing history? it doesnt plug into your browser as far as i know.

 

Doesn't it have that internet shield thingy?

[manikyath]

Doesn't it have that internet shield thingy?

now you mention.

 

i've stopped used AVG years ago when it tried to install adware on my system.

[Briggsy]

I can grab Kaspersky Total Security keys for less than 10 bucks a pop. Fair trade for lack of pop up ads, and not selling user data.

[Timmy-P]

Repost from me:

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/448780-mini-news-avgs-update-to-their-privacy-policy/

[Me1z]

Well, isn't that fantastic? Every corporation under the sun seems to want to mine my data. And we're supposed to trust this one with securing our computers? You guys can have fun with this, I'm gonna go sit in the corner and learn how to make tinfoil hats.

[SeanBond]

It's amazing that I just uninstalled avg today for an entirely related reason. Good timing. 

[FaZe Booce]

porn porn porn

[PatrikStar24]

Repost from me:

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/448780-mini-news-avgs-update-to-their-privacy-policy/

My only excuse is that I put more information in my thread, and the addition of the Wired article.

What's it going to be, mods? Merge, move, or lock?

[dalekphalm]

@PatrikStar24 AVG may have once been the "king daddy" of free AV software back in the early/mid 2000's, but they've been pretty shit for a long time now.

 

The program is very invasive with pop-ups and notifications, and constantly bugs you to "upgrade" to one of their paid premium levels. I personally prefer Avast over AVG, but even Avast has been getting really pushy with upgrading, etc.

 

These days, I generally recommend MalwareBytes + Windows Defender. Or replace Windows Defender with Kaspersky or one of the other well reviewed/tested paid options. I don't have much personal experience with Avira, but have heard good things.

 

I would advise against using BitDefender though, since they were the victim of a severe targeted hacking attack. Of course, no security is perfect, but do I really trust a security company that got hacked with the security of my computer? Nope.

[BigDay]

how does microsoft's windows defender perform?

[Sauron]

I can and will not install avg

[dalekphalm]

how does microsoft's windows defender perform?

It's very resource light, but it's detection algorithms aren't as good as some others - it scores moderately well but not excellent in most AV tests. It misses the occasional wild virus.

 

Which is why I recommend using it with MalwareBytes as a backup.

 

Kaspersky is a better overall AV then Defender though. It generally scores at the very top of AV tests.