AVG accused of privacy Armageddon with new data sharing policy

The new privacy policy states AVG collects “non-personal data to make money from our free offerings so we can keep them free”.

So if you want to avail the free AVG service for getting rid of viruses, remember there will be a price to pay henceforth – compromising your privacy. If we become aware that part of your browsing history might identify you, we will treat that portion of your history as personal data, and will anonymize this information.

“We provide products and services to help you secure your data, devices, and personal privacy”.

The complete updated privacy policy from AVG can be read online. AVG also explains that the antivirus company’s previous policies also included that it could gather search history data; however, the same was worded in a different manner and read that the company could collect “the words you search”.

This seems like a hefty list of data to collect, but there is more.

If data is collected which makes you identifiable – such as browsing history or search terms – AVG says this information is considered personal and will be scrubbed. That’s nice, as it’ll now be one page instead of having everyone scroll down and click on the accept button, but in that one page it lets you know what kind of data is collected. Anything AVG deems personal is not sold to third parties, but is shared with affiliate companies depending on laws in your country. Your IP may be shared with AVG’s search providers, and affiliated vendors may be given information including your email address. As for the information that isn’t considered “personal”, it will be offered to third parties and displayed publicly. At AVG, we value our customers and believe they should know exactly how their information is being used by us.

AVG went out of its way to show off the clarity of its new privacy policy, even putting out press release announcing the update. Users can choose to opt-out of certain data collection techniques, but information on how to do that, and what you can opt-out of, won’t be available until the policy goes live. It drew fan support for offering a no cost version of its antivirus software, which traditionally has worked quite well, but its reputation as a champion of the average Joe is now in jeopardy over a revised privacy policy.