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Avast to shut down Jumpshot after report it sold troves of user data

Earlier this week Vice’s Motherboard and PC Mag published a shocking report regarding Avast and one of its subsidiaries – Jumpshot.

In short the report revealed that an Avast antivirus was gathering user data. The data collected was anonymised but the scope of what was collected meant that identifying users was trivial.

Now Avast chief executive officer, Ondrej Vlcek, has announced the closure of Jumpshot with immediate effect.

“We started Jumpshot in 2015 with the idea of extending our data analytics capabilities beyond core security. This was during a period where it was becoming increasingly apparent that cybersecurity was going to be about big data. We thought we could leverage our tools and resources to do this more securely than the countless other companies that were collecting data,” wrote Vlcek.

The CEO goes on to say that Jumpshot operated within the boundaries of the law and that both it and Avast committed to 100 percent GDPR compliance.

However, Vlcek goes on to say that when he took over as CEO at Avast seven months ago that, “the data collection business is not in line with our privacy priorities as a company in 2020 and beyond.”

We do find it oddly coincidental that Vlcek’s concerns and action have aligned so conveniently with the publication of a scathing report about the aforementioned data collection business. While he was not behind the decision to start Jumpshot his presence at the helm of Avast for the last seven months makes him accountable for its actions.

“While the decision we have made will regrettably impact hundreds of loyal Jumpshot employees and dozens of its customers, it is absolutely the right thing to do. I firmly believe it will help Avast focus on and unlock its full potential to deliver on its promise of security and privacy. And I especially thank our users, whose recent feedback accelerated our decision to take quick action,” the CEO added.

Whether Avast users will be comfortable using the antivirus going forward remains to be seen.

[Source – Avast][Image – CC 0 Pixabay]

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