With AVG now selling your browsing history, which free Antivirus?

[MacDragon]

So AVG have updated their privacy policy to say they can sell your browsing history, I've been with AVG forever, but now it's time for me to move on.

What's the best free antivirus out there right now?

[jag272]

Personally I run MBAM Pro (Free is also good) alongside Avast Free and havent run into any issues. A lot of people seem to think Kaspersky has a better detection rate however, so if it really matters probably go with them, but while this can also be taken as a foolish thing to say as far as security is concerned, there comes a point where so little gets through that any further improvement is insignificant.

That said, if Kaspersky has better detection rate, is easy to use and is similar in performance drain to Avast or other competition, no reason not to take the extra detection rate.

Definitely worth having MBAM alongside AV though, even just the free version now they changed pro over to a subscription rather than a one time purchase. Always been great for me so far.

Edit: Went to read up on this AVG news and came across this on one article.

Avast, which also provides free security software, explains that it is able to collect certain non-personal information and sell it to advertisers. The company does not specify that this includes browser and search history data.

You might then want to avoid Avast on similar grounds, not sure what the deal is with Kaspersky, but as was also quoted in the article im reading.

"If something is free you've got to assume that you're the product," he said. "The difficulty with this is whether anyone notices, reads it, checks it and understands the implications".

[munchie]

free? that's easy. sign up to a barclays online account and do nothing with it. free kaspersky (nominally a paid product paid for by someone else). pretty sure there are other similar deals, eg from isp or other banks.

[g8ina]

OK, so where does it say AVG are selling your browser history ?

Their Privacy T&C currently states :

"Personally Identifiable Information

Personal data and information (“Personal Identifiable Information” or “PII”) refers to information that can be used to identify a living individual. We may obtain PII from you through two types of interaction (manually submitted by you and automatically collected by us):

A. INFORMATION YOU SUBMIT TO US MANUALLY

We collect the PII you provide to us on our Site or through our AVG Products, including your name, address, email address, telephone number, and if you pay by credit card, your account information. This happens when you:
Create a user account, place an order, register a product
Requesting product support or other services
Request information about AVG Products
Participate in surveys

B. INFORMATION AUTOMATICALLY COLLECTED AND STORED THROUGH INTERACTION

When you interact with AVG Products or Sites we may maintain a partial or full record about some or all of the following types of information:
Your Internet Protocol ("IP") address
Phone number, SIM number, subscriber number, and Device ID - IMEI, MEID
Date and time, country, geographic location based on GPS/Wi-Fi/communications network local information.
When we obtain PII from you, we treat such information in accordance with this Privacy Policy and applicable laws. You may decide not to proceed with any activity that requests PII.
By installing or using our AVG Products, you hereby agree with our collection and use of your PII as outlined in this Privacy Policy."

Or did I miss something ?

[g8ina]

http://www.avg.com/gb-en/privacy

Last updated Dec 2014.

[g8ina]

[IMG]Image1 by David W. Harris, on Flickr[/IMG]

[DDY]

OK, so where does it say AVG are selling your browser history ?

Here

We collect non-personal data to make money from our free offerings so we can keep them free, including:
•Advertising ID associated with your device;
•Browsing and search history, including meta data;
•Internet service provider or mobile network you use to connect to our products; and
•Information regarding other applications you may have on your device and how they are used.

http://www.avg.com/us-en/privacy-new...ot-identify-me

[g8ina]

ahaaa, in the new T&C not in force yet ! OK, got it.

[deejayburnout]

They will sell anything to make profit.
If you had bought a licence, would they NOT sell your data?

[watercooled]

If you're a bit careful, there's really nothing wrong with Security Essentials or whatever it's called now IMHO. Free for 7 and built into 10, and 8 IIRC. Plus MBAM for on-demand scans if you like.

[Zak33]

If you're a bit careful, there's really nothing wrong with Security Essentials or whatever it's called now IMHO. Free for 7 and built into 10, and 8 IIRC. Plus MBAM for on-demand scans if you like.

this /\

I use Housecall for on demand scans .. particularly for downloaded files before using them.

[GuidoLS]

If you're a bit careful, there's really nothing wrong with Security Essentials or whatever it's called now IMHO. Free for 7 and built into 10, and 8 IIRC. Plus MBAM for on-demand scans if you like.

This is what I've been preaching for a while. MSE/Defender, MBAM and common sense. Run a good set of add-ons for your browser, practice safe surfing and safe e-mail use, and all should be good.

AVG, while decent, has become a resource hog over the last couple of years, so was easy to drop.

Don't think too poorly of me, but at first, I dropped Kaspersky for 'political' reasons - and then it was revealed that they (Kaspersky) were faking malware results to directly harm the competition... and more recently, the fact that they were hacked... nah. Even if I were inclined to use a 3rd party A/V, it wouldn't be this one.

[ajcardiac]

I've used avast! Free for some years, without problem.

[shaithis]

Another vote here for MBAM, plus Windows Defender/Security Essentials.

Also NOT a virus checker at all but I like to use uniextract to test EXEs before launch. I have found 99% of recent infections to be nothing but trojans bundled with a valid EXE inside a new EXE that launches the trojan before the pukka EXE. Uniextract will "uncompress" the EXE and leave you with the original EXE and the trojan as separate EXEs. You can then delete one and use the other

[Bonebreaker777]

I have a rather good experience with 360 Total Security in the recent months. Also MBAM/Junkware Tool. Sod the paid ones.