Avast Anti virus

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Avast Anti virus

This topic has 8 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 1 February 2020 at 16:57 by Enough!.

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29 January 2020 at 16:17 #449657
Harry Wilkes
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@harrywilkes58467
Don't know if any members use Avast but just can across a article which recons Avast is spying on you might want to check it out ***link***

H
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29 January 2020 at 16:17 #35732
Harry Wilkes
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@harrywilkes58467
29 January 2020 at 17:58 #449671
John Baron
Participant
@johnbaron31275
They all spy on you in some way or other ! Almost any program that you run on a Windows or Apple machine collects information on your usage habits including the operating system itself. Even your ISP collects info.
29 January 2020 at 18:13 #449673
Harry Wilkes
Participant
@harrywilkes58467
Posted by John Baron on 29/01/2020 17:58:59:

They all spy on you in some way or other ! Almost any program that you run on a Windows or Apple machine collects information on your usage habits including the operating system itself. Even your ISP collects info.

Wouldn't disagree but Avast are accused of selling the info they have collected

H
29 January 2020 at 19:13 #449679
John Baron
Participant
@johnbaron31275
Do you really think that others don't ?

I don't use anything other than Linux, so I'm fairly safe except for the web browser ! I was a little shocked to find 40Mb of data including personal data hidden on my machine ! All of it collected from browsing the web, news groups and Email.

Avast make it quite clear that they want your info when you start to use it. I would agree that a lot don't. Saying no should mean no, but it doesn't.
29 January 2020 at 22:05 #449730
Anthony Knights
Participant
@anthonyknights16741
I use Linux OS, Duckduckgo search engine and Firefox Web browser. Am I paranoid?
1 February 2020 at 09:03 #450170
Peter G. Shaw
Participant
@peterg-shaw75338
Anthony,

No, I do the same even though I find DuckDuckGo isn't quite the same as Google. Mine always defaults to America, probably because I have Firefox set to never remember history, and to automatically delete cookies at the end of the session.

Peter G. Shaw
1 February 2020 at 09:29 #450174
John Baron
Participant
@johnbaron31275
Hi Guys,

Whilst I agree that you should do everything possible to protect yourself, there are various ways that data can be gleaned ! For instance your IP address, unless you are using a VPN, will tell the web site exactly where abouts in the world you are, irrespective of what you might tell your computer.

Private browsing and never remembering history are fine, as long as you delete the cookies as well. And then there are the hidden data stores ! There maybe several dotted around, a particular web site will use the same place each time you visit, a group of them may all use the same place.

Emails sometimes have trackers and beacons hidden in them, its a very common way of discovering what machine and operating system you use.

Don't get me started about Android ! That platform was built to be a data collector !
1 February 2020 at 16:57 #450246
Enough!
Participant
@enough
Posted by John Baron on 01/02/2020 09:29:30:

For instance your IP address, unless you are using a VPN, will tell the web site exactly where abouts in the world you are, irrespective of what you might tell your computer.

More accurately it will tell the website where your ISP is located – which may be a long way from where you are (~ 250 km in my case).
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