Popular browser extension acquired by unloved anti-virus firm

Browser extension I don’t care about cookies does one job and does it well. It automatically removes annoying but mandatory “This website uses cookies”notices from websites. People love it, donate to it, and don’t want more, which is rare in free software.

“Damn that’s **** bro, it saved about 50 minutes of my game time lol,”reads one review on the Microsoft Edge add-ons page.

The tone changed when the lone developer posted “GREAT NEWS “on the extension’s website. Avast, the cybersecurity giant that just completed an $8.1 billion merger with NortonLifeLock, will acquire 10-year-old software at an undisclosed price.

“I am proud and delighted to announce that Avast… a renowned and trusted IT company known for a wide range of products to help protect our digital experience has recognized its value!” wrote developer Daniel Kladnik recently. Kladnik wrote that he would continue to work on the extension, it would remain free, and asked that no more donations be made.

Commentators on Facebook, Twitter, and various install pages of the extension disagreed with Kladnik’s characterization of Avast. “Congratulations on destroying the expansion! Avast is a cancer on this planet,” a Facebook commenter wrote. “The cure is now worse than the disease,” wrote another. “Sad to see a well-known pop-up company acquire a great pop-up blocker extension,” someone wrote on the Chrome extension page.

There is always a certain reflex reaction to “deleting”software, but the extension that handles the cookie policy for you, purchased by Avast, raises some questions. (We have contacted Kladnik and Avast and will update the post with new information).

Beyond the overall scope and scope of the recently merged Norton/Avast organization (cleansed just four days ago), and long before that, Avast has made news for many kinds of data management.

Avast shut down brokerage Jumpshot in 2020 after a joint investigation by VICE and PCMag found that its antivirus software sold browsing data to some of the world’s largest companies, including Home Depot, Google and Microsoft. Conde Nast company). The data included searches on Google, GPS coordinates on Google Maps, and searches on various sites including YouTube and PornHub. Jumpshot advertised itself as “the only company to unlock closed garden data”and in a now-deleted tweet touted its ability to collect “Every search. Every click. every purchase. On every site.

In 2019, the creator of AdBlock Plus was digging into the Avast Online Security browser extension (and a similar extension from AVG that Avast acquired). The extension sent detailed information about the pages visited, actions on those pages, and other data that made it easier to deanonymize people. Shortly thereafter, Google removed the Avast and AVG extensions from the Chrome Web Store.

In its core security work, Avast made one notable mistake when distributing a smaller software application it purchased. CCleaner, a tool to completely remove all pieces of Windows software, was distributed by Avast, although it contained malware. The malware, which allowed remote access and control with a seemingly legitimate signing certificate, was injected by an attacker into CCleaner’s update servers through another company acquired by Avast.

Avast, a Czech company operating since 1988, has also made significant contributions to security research and discovery over more than three decades. In recent years, Avast has detected 28 malware-infected browser extensions (in 2020), discovered a backdoor inside a federal agency (in 2021), and raised the alarm about a Chrome vulnerability used to attack journalists and other specific targets.

The “I don’t care about cookies”alternatives mentioned by sites and users include Consent-O-Matic and a number of other extensions that don’t have the same 10 year history or overview as the Kladnik extension. Of course, you can continue to use the extension and keep a close eye on updates.