The Czech Observatory for Data Protection started investigating Avast after circulation of publications which revealed that he was selling information from the record browsing of its users.
Among Avast's clients were large technology companies such as Google, Microsoft and Home Depot, research conducted by Motherboard and PCMag revealed.
"We are currently collecting information on the whole case. There are suspicions of a serious and widespread violation of the protection of users' personal data. "After the investigation, further measures will be taken and the general public will be informed." said Ivana Janů, President of the Czech Personal Data Protection Agency.
Concerns about Avast's data collection practices first surfaced in 2019, when it was discovered that some of extensions for Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox browsers collected information from users that the company sold to third parties.
Google and Mozilla stopped distributing the extensions, until Avast fixed them with significant changes that reduced the amount of data they collected from users' computers.
But a few days ago we reported that Avast continues to collect information such as Google searches, its Google Maps, and YouTube, but also clicks from adult sites.
As with the extensions, the data was anonymous, but according to Vice, many experts believe that even with anonymous data, it is possible to identify a person.
