The watchdog for the data protection in the Czech Republic began to investigate it company Avast after circulation of publications which revealed that it was selling information from its users' browsing history.
Among Avast's clients were large technology companies such as Google, the 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 practices collectionς δεδομένων της Avast εμφανίστηκαν για πρώτη φορά το 2019, όταν ανακαλύφθηκε ότι μερικές από τις επεκτάσεις για τα προγράμματα περιήγησης Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox 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.
A few days ago, however, we reported that Avast continues to collect information such as Google searches, Google Maps, and YouTube, as well as 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.