[HN Gopher] Avast Scandal: Why We Stopped Recommending Avast and...
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       Avast Scandal: Why We Stopped Recommending Avast and AVG
        
       Author : downrightmike
       Score  : 35 points
       Date   : 2023-07-14 19:32 UTC (3 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.safetydetectives.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.safetydetectives.com)
        
       | musicale wrote:
       | If this is legal we need better laws.
       | 
       | If it is illegal then the laws need better enforcement.
        
       | RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote:
       | For at least the last decade, at least for consumers, any type of
       | anti-virus such as Norton, Avast, AVG had more downside that
       | upside. Avoiding running under an admin account and using Windows
       | Defender was better than installing any third-party anti-virus
       | solution.
        
         | rileymat2 wrote:
         | That is not entirely true, for ransomware your permissions are
         | enough for them to encrypt your files. Windows defender is
         | getting there, but I am not sure it is quite there.
        
       | lockhouse wrote:
       | Just a reminder, nothing is really free.
       | 
       | I recommend if you find a product or service to be too cheap that
       | you think through why that could possibly be.
        
       | downrightmike wrote:
       | If you've used Avast or AVG in the past decade, they sold your
       | click data for every thing you clicked on and every site you went
       | to. I hadn't heard about this at all until today. Submitting for
       | exposure.
        
         | caminante wrote:
         | To me, the browser/email signature bloatware was more offensive
         | than selling my privacy.
        
         | type0 wrote:
         | The trouble is that people don't care, I explained it to both
         | AVG and Avast users, the response I got varied from disbelief
         | to asking me where is my tinfoil-hat. Ignorance is bliss
        
           | JohnFen wrote:
           | That doesn't sound like they don't care as much as they don't
           | believe you.
           | 
           | Which echoes the responses I get when I bring up these
           | issues. I think lots of people find the concept so outrageous
           | that they think it couldn't possibly be true.
        
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       (page generated 2023-07-14 23:01 UTC)