News

The Record: FTC hits Avast with $16.5 million fine over allegations of selling users’ browsing data 

February 22, 2024

Privacy advocates were stunned by the extent of the violations and called the case unprecedented. 

“It’s hard to overstate how invasive Avast’s actions were,” said John Davisson, litigation director at the Electronic Privacy Information Center. “Browsing information is among the most sensitive personal data there is, often yielding private insights that consumers don’t even share with family or friends.” 

Read more here.

Davisson added that the case underscores how companies use “false assurances of ‘anonymized’ data to defend their commercial exploitation of our personal information.”

Support Our Work

EPIC's work is funded by the support of individuals like you, who allow us to continue to protect privacy, open government, and democratic values in the information age.

Donate