| | '''Avast''' is a company which offers [[Anti-virus software]], under both paid and free plans. Avast Anti-Virus is self-proclaimed as the most-trusted security provider in the world. The numbers seem to support this declaration, as they boast 230,000,000 users, devices, and businesses in a total of 186 countries.<ref>https://www.avast.com/about</ref> Avast also has six testing labs, which seems to support this claim as well, since this is more than any other anti-virus company as of 2016.<ref>http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2388652,00.asp</ref> | | '''Avast''' is a company which offers [[Anti-virus software]], under both paid and free plans. Avast Anti-Virus is self-proclaimed as the most-trusted security provider in the world. The numbers seem to support this declaration, as they boast 230,000,000 users, devices, and businesses in a total of 186 countries.<ref>https://www.avast.com/about</ref> Avast also has six testing labs, which seems to support this claim as well, since this is more than any other anti-virus company as of 2016.<ref>http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2388652,00.asp</ref> |
| | + | More recently, it has been revealed that Avast has been selling "anonymized" data on user behavior. Essentially, it tracks how users browse the web, and then sells this information (supposedly stripped of personally identifiable information) for advertising purposes. This has led to some labeling Avast products as "spyware," and some browsers removing Avast's browser extension from their libraries.<ref>https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2019/12/09/are-you-one-of-avasts-400-million-users-this-is-why-it-collects-and-sells-your-web-habits</ref> |