FTC's Ruling Mandates Avast to cease Selling Browsing Data for Advertising Purposes & Imposes a $16.5 M Penalty for Selling Data despite claiming their Products would prevent Online Tracking
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FTC's Ruling Mandates Avast to cease Selling Browsing Data for Advertising Purposes & Imposes a $16.5 M Penalty for Selling Data despite claiming their Products would prevent Online Tracking



Starting in 2014, the FTC alleges that Avast has been gathering information about users' online activities through browser extensions and antivirus software. This data included details of users' web searches, visited websites, and other sensitive information such as religious beliefs, health concerns, political affiliations, location, financial status, and visits to child-directed content.


According to the FTC, Avast Limited, based in the United Kingdom, collected consumers' browsing information through its browser extensions and antivirus software, stored it indefinitely, and sold it without adequate notice or consumer consent. The FTC also alleges that Avast misled users by claiming that the software would protect their privacy by blocking third-party tracking, without adequately disclosing that it would sell their detailed, re-identifiable browsing data. The FTC further alleges that Avast sold this data to more than 100 third parties through its subsidiary, Jumpshot.


“Avast promised users that its products would protect the privacy of their browsing data but delivered the opposite,” said Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Avast’s bait-and-switch surveillance tactics compromised consumers’ privacy and broke the law.”


Starting in 2014, the FTC alleges that Avast has been gathering information about users' online activities through browser extensions and antivirus software. This data included details of users' web searches, visited websites, and other sensitive information such as religious beliefs, health concerns, political affiliations, location, financial status, and visits to child-directed content.


Despite collecting and selling this data, Avast did not disclose this practice to consumers. Instead, it claimed that its products would reduce online tracking. For instance, Avast's browser extensions were advertised as blocking tracking cookies, while its desktop software was promoted as protecting privacy and preventing unauthorized access to computers.


Following its acquisition of Jumpshot, a competitor in the antivirus software market, Avast rebranded Jumpshot as an analytics company. Between 2014 and 2020, Jumpshot allegedly sold the browsing information collected by Avast to various clients, including advertising, marketing, and data analytics companies, as well as data brokers.


The company claimed it utilized a special algorithm to remove identifying information before passing the data to clients. However, the FTC contends that the company did not adequately anonymize consumers' browsing information when selling it in non-aggregate form through various products.


For instance, the data feeds included a unique identifier for each web browser, details of every visited website, precise timestamps, device and browser types, and location information such as city, state, and country. Despite Avast's claims about its data sharing practices, it falsely stated that it would only transfer consumers' personal information in aggregate and anonymous form, according to the complaint.

 The FTC also alleges that the company failed to prevent some of its data buyers from re-identifying Avast users based on the data provided by Jumpshot. Even in cases where Avast's contracts included prohibitions against re-identification, the wording of the contracts allowed data buyers to associate non-personally identifiable information with Avast users' browsing data.


Some Jumpshot products were allegedly designed to enable clients to track specific users or associate them and their browsing histories with other information those clients possessed. For example, the complaint mentions a contract between Jumpshot and Omnicom, an advertising conglomerate, which allowed Omnicom to receive an "All Clicks Feed" for half of its customers in several countries. This contract permitted Omnicom to link Avast's data with data brokers' sources of data on an individual user basis.


In addition to the $16.5 million payment intended for consumer redress, the proposed order will prevent Avast and its subsidiaries from misrepresenting how they use collected data. Other provisions of the proposed order include:

 

- Prohibition on Selling Browsing Data: Avast will be barred from selling or licensing browsing data from Avast-branded products to third parties for advertising purposes.

- Obtain Affirmative Express Consent: The company must obtain affirmative express consent from consumers before selling or licensing browsing data from non-Avast products to third parties for advertising purposes.

- Data and Model Deletion: Avast must delete the web browsing information transferred to Jumpshot and any products or algorithms derived from that data.

- Notify Consumers: Avast must inform consumers whose browsing information was sold to third parties without their consent about the FTC's actions against the company.

- Implement Privacy Program: Avast must implement a comprehensive privacy program addressing the misconduct highlighted by the FTC.

 

The Commission voted 3-0 to issue the administrative complaint and accept the proposed consent agreement. FTC Chair Lina M. Khan, along with Commissioners Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya, issued a statement on this matter.


The FTC will soon publish a description of the consent agreement package in the Federal Register. The agreement will be open to public comment for 30 days after publication, following which the Commission will decide whether to finalize the proposed consent order. Instructions for submitting comments will be included in the published notice, and once processed, comments will be available on Regulations.gov.

 

It's important to note that the Commission issues an administrative complaint when it has reason to believe that the law has been or is being violated, and when a proceeding is deemed to be in the public interest. Finalizing a consent order gives it the force of law regarding future actions, with each violation potentially resulting in a civil penalty of up to $51,744.

 

The lead staff attorneys on this matter are Cathlin Tully and Andy Hasty from the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.

 

The Federal Trade Commission's mission is to promote competition and protect and educate consumers. For more information on consumer topics, visit consumer.ftc.gov. To report fraud, scams, and unethical business practices, visit ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Stay updated by following the FTC on social media, reading consumer alerts and the business blog, and signing up for the latest FTC news and alerts.


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