AVG 9.0 Free is out

Then no problem explaining that clearly is there? I think main issue is they could write just about everything in EULA, few will ever notice. If the paranoid went crazy at this more will become interested and take notice. I dont see how you can just write it off as "of course they do not". Well a security company mismanaging/selling/whatever user data would be a shocker, but there are other companies in other categories who might get inspired, if not already. Issue is EULAs in general I assume. Paranoid group can be used to control slippery slope theory, draw attention to wild west EULAs. Take ads/marketing as example. In stone age many people freaked out about too many, just not user friendly placement could be enough. I can even remember some sites debating whether to have ads at all. Turn off your firewall blocking channels to data miners, oh I meant adblocker and see how it is today. Can go the same way with innocent "phone home" data before you know it. Dont underestimate skill levels of those who can drag valuable data out of a big bundle. What much internet activity is based on. Data = money and money is interesting to many. Sometimes called "business model".

 

We are not talking about advertizing companies here which make money out of user information. We are talking about security companies, for which trust is imperative. I really don't think they'd be willing to compromise trust of their users just for some additional buck.

 

No but throw in a little toolbar and suddenly you are talking advertising. Data can nearly always be used for marketing, sold for that purpose. EULA issue should be the same regardless of category but of course security companies are the least likely to fall for temptation. If whoever freak out and demand "proof" I welcome the noise.

 

I agree, this would be silly

 

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The problem is we don't know what software applications are doing regardless of what the EULA says. In the past people would use the firewall to block applications from "phoning home" including their other security programs. Now with security software using cloud technology that's not an option. Companies that offer free products (such as AVG) have more incentive to turn to data mining to cover their costs. I think using paid subscription products is better, but I don't have the skills to monitor my security software to try and figure out what it's really doing. I consider it the lesser evil if my security softare vendor mines my data while protecting me from Eastern European hackers who want to steal my identity and empty my bank account

 

I call all that major BS. These companies don't "mine" possibly personal data any more than others. Especially not because they are free. Like they have any profit from the fact that they know your profile username lol. It's not worth anything. Besides, i'm pretty sure that Symantec/McAfee/Trend Micro were among the first who offered statistical information collection and not AVG, avast! or AVIRA...

 

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Note that I said I personally can not tell what my security software is doing. I didn't say AVG or any other product mines data, or does so "any more then others". If you want an example of a (so called) security company which clearly does mine data have a look at Anchorfree which offers the free HotspotShield for wi-fi security. The product is clearly adware and they are upfront about it. I don't think it's BS that companies which offer free products are more inclined to mine data as a way to cover costs. That's what adware is all about. Can you tell in real-time which programs on your computer are gathering data, what that data is, where it is being sent and how it is being used? I think most of us are incapable of doing so and must base our trust in security vendors on other factors.

 

And how exactly does knowing your profile name cover any costs what so ever?

 

The "collects and sends certain personal identifiable information", is translated to "when something is detected on the desktop it sends your file path which also may include your real name" aka "possibly identifiable"?

Then they should rephrase it as "may collect and send possibly personally identifiable information by accident".

What if it collects my email by accident or sends a document that is infected and has my real data? Ah, that may be also a "possibly identifiable".

What if it collects my password database? That could possibly be also.

What if it collects a false positive macro detection with my telephone on it or other telephones?


The question that i put to myself, is, besides doing the card teller, why should i want it to send all that in the first place?


I don't know if it's about their statistics and i don't care. Half of the spyware and data miners out there could also defend their position that they just want to bring to you some adds, they don't care personally about you , so they shouldn't be seen as privacy risk.

Reizor, i don't care about what i think they do with the data they collect. I don't aspire in a career of tarot card reader. I have problem with the action itself, not the goal of the action. What they do with the data, is something they know as a company and as individual workers. If privacy was only to be protected in the basis of whether the collection is done en masse or whether one thinks that the employees of a company are "honest", it would be the end.

In deed.If you read the EULA, they are actually very analytic about what it does , but not about the personally identifiable data. There it becomes "certain personally identifiable data". While when it becomes about the info about the computer, they are very specific.

Still this fixation with account username... If it's that simple why don't they just say it's just that?


Because, in AVG's own crystal ball, personal data , isn't just what YOUR ball says.


This is about data from their website:

We collect the personally identifiable information you provide to us on our Site, including your name, address, email address, telephone number, and if you pay by credit card, your account information when you:


AVG Technologies may share your information with third parties such as:

Service Providers: We may share your personally identifiable information with trusted service providers who provide operational or other support services to our Customers or who perform certain functions on our behalf. Examples include providers who fulfill orders, ship products, process transactions (including credit card transactions), distribute e-mails, conduct research or statistical analysis or provide other marketing assistance. It may be necessary to share user personal information with these service providers in order to allow them to provide their services. You have the right not to provide the requested information, but in such case you may not be able to receive these services. Those service providers will be permitted to obtain only the personal information they need to deliver the service and we require that they keep the personal information of our customers secure and confidential and comply with the Act and all other applicable laws. We also require that these contractors use our customers' personal information only on behalf of AVG Technologies and do not disclose them to third parties or use them for any other purpose.

Local Partners, Distributors and Resellers: We may share your personal information, such as your e-mail contact, with selected local AVG Technologies partners, distributors and resellers so that they can contact you, either on our behalf or for their own account, about our products, services or offers that we believe are important to you or your business and to provide you a local technical and customer support.

http://free.avg.com/ww-en/privacy

Of course we all trust them, don't we. If one is a reseller or distributor , he must be automatically a reputable person, no doubt. After all, of what use for example my email could possibly be to anyone?

You trust one, that he trusts on another, that he trusts that the one on whom he puts his trust, is trustworthy...

I don't want such "offers". Please, enough with the offers. Leave me out on this! If i want something offered, let me ask about it myself

I agree. You can't know 100%. The EULA is a private contract. They may ommit things, but it's the only chance the consumer has to learn what the program does.

About cloud security, i will avoid it as long as i can. If i can't i will again choose according to EULA. I don't have the skill to setup packet sniffers either, never interested in learning about such software.



Anyway, it always ends up like this. From the one side the paranoids that don't accept the principle, from the other side those who don't care or "i don't have anything to hide". It's always the same, nothing more to add.

 

Have you ever seen any EULA being written in a simple way? I haven't. That's why the never say that they might capture your username inside file path.
They always write it in typical EULA style. Personally i think EULA is load of junk just so companies can write stuff no one cares about (or understands it).
I've never read that crap because it's:
a) waaaay too long
b) written in a typical generic EULA way where you get bored after 3 lines
c) there are several ways one could interpret the info read there

So, bottom line, i don't read it. I'm well aware that companies collect different stuff for statistics and i don't mind it for as long as actual binaries and data files are not sent around without my knowledge. But antiviruses don't do that.
And only thing if they ever send around are suspicious malware samples that i don't mind sending to them either.

 

Reizor, i understand only what i read.

http://img381.imageshack.us/img381/9992/51068007.png

http://img49.imageshack.us/img49/2900/32477046.png

They are very vague as to the personal info and very detailed about the trivial stuff.

I mean, they get into the trouble, to say that they get, IP, OS, browser, data about malware, including file names, cryptographic hash, vendor, size, date stamps, my PC's restore points and software, that may include application path, file and names, copies of the files, etc.

But they can't get into trouble to say instead of "we collect certain personally identifiable info" to say "we may inadertently collect your username, but that data is not intentionally collected or kept" for example?

Odd...

And as i said, i don't care about what a "company" says she does. Companies are made by people. One adware company for example, in my crystall ball may very well pay one AVG worker to pass email accounts. Who's gonna care or find out? Worse things have happened in companies (industrial espionage, database hacked, etc).

I am not saying AVG is malicious. I just personally don't feel comfortable with that, this is why i don't use it. Heck, by state law, my supermarket can't use my buyers' discount card (which registers all products that i buy from the supermarket) for statistical data gathering without my consent (when compiling the module for the shopping card you tick a box to allow or disallow data gathering from your card). Why can AVG? It's not Ok for me.

 

is use EULAlyzer, it does a decent job at pointing out the words of caution.

 

I have EULAyzer too. Fortunately it works on Win7 too. But after a while you get the hang of EULAs and you start spotting the privacy part quickly on your own.

 

me, im way to lazy for that

 

http://www.avg.com/de-en/product-avg-anti-virus-free-edition

AVG 9.0 Free includes Basic Anti-Rootkit protection - whatever that means

 

I sure would like to know the difference between basic and advanced.

 

@JRViejo
From my observation it seems that the difference mainly lays in cleaning capabilities rather then detection capabilities.

 

@JRViejo
Yes roughly you can say it like that. I don't see any difference in detection of (non-executed) rootkits between the paid and the free version. While the free version can do some basic rootkit cleaning the paid versions are more thorough. At least, in my observation.

 

@JRViejo
Yes that post on the AVG forums indicates to cleaning capabilities as well. Perhaps we'll see our suspicion confirmed in future testing of these products.

 

@JRViejo
In this perspective there's no real reason by buy AVG Pro in my opinion. Combine AVG Free with Threatfire and you're even better of. Or pick any of the other free alternatives like avast! or MSE... Going offtopic now

ps. Take care you too.

 

I think there is a bug regarding On Open scaning and On Close scanning.
On Open works fine. However, even though i check On Close as well, it doesn't do it. For example, even though i checked On Close, AVG doesn't detect EICAR sampl as soon as i download it. And it should, because creating a new file falls under On Close type of scanning. I want it to detect malware right away, not when i execute it.