14 DAY TRIAL // Google has removed Avast and AVG extensions for Google Chrome from the Chrome Web Store following the user data concerns that made the headlines several times in the last couple of weeks.
The issue was brought to light by Wladimir Palant, the developer of Adblock Plus, one of the leading ad-blocking extensions for Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox.
According to his findings, Avast and AVG extensions published in add-on stores collected information about users’ browsing habits, including data that would allow the security company to reproduce your browsing session.
Palant said Avast could determine how many times you have open in a browser, how much time you spend on a page, and what you click in a specific tab.
“Spying on your users is clearly a violation of the terms that both Google and Mozilla make extension developers sign,” the AdBlock Plus developer explained in a December 3 blog post.
Chrome extensions pulled
Mozilla and Opera were the first browser makers to take action against extensions offered under Avast and AVG brands, and now Google has pulled all but one from the Chrome Web Store. At the time of writing this article, AVG Online Security is the only AVG extension that can still be downloaded from the Chrome Web Store.
Neither Mozilla nor Google released a statement on the reason the extensions were pulled. However, Mozilla previously said it was working with Avast on addressing the privacy issues, which means the add-ons could go back online when an update is available.
Worth noting, however, is that without being blacklisted, these extensions haven’t been removed from devices where they are already running, with Palant warning this means they “continue spying on users.”
Meanwhile, Avast’s CEO downplays the privacy worries, explaining that the data collected by the company is anonymized before it’s sold to customers.