Earlier this month, it was reported that browser extensions from Avast and AVG were found to be collecting data on users, more so than users were led to believe. Both Mozilla and Opera were quick to disable and/or remove them from the store, but for some reason, Google took no action, at least not on that day.
However, it seems that Google has since decided to do something about it where they have gone ahead and removed both extensions from Avast and AVG from the Chrome Web Store. This means that users will no longer be able to find them from the Chrome Web Store if they try to search for it.
Google has yet to officially comment on the matter, but it looks like they agree with the findings of developer Wladimir Palant who first discovered the issue and detailed it on his blog. For those unfamiliar, the extensions were discovered to be tracking user behavior as they browsed the web.
Palant found that the data collected allowed companies like Avast to create a “nearly precise reconstruction” of your browsing behavior, including how many tabs you keep open, what websites you visit, how long you visit them for, and when you visit them.
Filed in . Read more about Chrome, Google and Privacy. Source: 9to5google