Security News > 2020 > January > Difficult season: Antivirus-flinger Avast decides to 'wind down' Jumpshot

Avast will pull the plug on Jumpshot, its controversial data analytics business, after it was revealed the company was harvesting its users' data.

The Brit antivirus firm ran into trouble last month when a security researcher, Wladimir Palant, found that the company's Firefox browser extensions were collecting customers' browsing data, including URLs of sites they had visited, and per-device unique IDs, and selling it, apparently deanonymised, to customers such as Revlon, Tripadvisor and Intel.

In response, Avast said it had stopped gathering people's data "For any other purpose than the core security engine, including sharing with Jumpshot".

A PCMag investigation publicised earlier this week found that Avast can still collect users' browser history through its main antivirus application, or through AVG antivirus, which it also owns.

Avast announced the closure, which it termed a "Winding down" in a press release this morning, saying that it would "Terminate its provision of data" to Jumpshot immediately and eventually close the business.

News URL

https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/30/avast_to_close_jumpshot/