Dear Avast,
What are the advantages and disadvantages to checking vs. unchecking “Participate in the Avast Community?” in settings. When I installed Avast 7, this box was checked by default. What statistical data are you getting by checking this box? And would Avast users not be getting by unchecking this box?
Thanks for your help,
Jack
You still get everything, checked or not.
Any gain for the end-user is a side-effect from making Avast! better.
Read the privacy policy thats linked there, same place you turn the community setting on/off.
With the addition of the file reputation function in v7, it may be more advisable to choose to participate. I don’t really know though, the two things may be entirely unconnected.
The Community gives anonymous information about threats and infections, suspicious files, etc. that help all the other ones.
Yes, the statistical data comes from the Community.
There are some further info in avast! blog.
If you uncheck the box , will you still be protected with the cloud features and file reputation ?
To say it this way , if u uncheck the box , will you still be as protected as if you would check the box ?
And if you uncheck the box , you dont send ANY personal information to Avast ? , and then i mean NOTHING… ?
And if you uncheck the box , what info WILL get send then ?
You can easily check that yourself…uncheck the box and see if correspondingly the Cloud features are disabled.
If you uncheck the box, Avast! wont invite you to any parties.
The info sent includes pretty much everything about you…blood type, retinal scans, fingerprints, gene mapping…you know, the standard stuff. But there is a safe place under your bed, if you hurry and unplug the Web and get under there, They might not find you when the sweep comes.
I would think that would be the case as well.
Jack
What makes you think that? By what mechanism would computer A community participation improve the functionality of FileRep on computer A? The reason I ask is because it seems to me as though FileRep, when querying the avast database for reputation information about a file, would be transmitting the pertinent bits of information about the file and I would think avast would return results that incorporate your having the file. IOW, it would seem you wouldn’t need the community feature to have previously informed avast of your having the file.
Its more like computer A’s community participation improves all aspects of Avast!, on computers A through Z.
Doh, I didn’t edit my post fast enough. What I added:
“The reason I ask is because it seems to me as though FileRep, when querying the avast database for reputation information about a file, would be transmitting the pertinent bits of information about the file and I would think avast would return results that incorporate your having the file. IOW, it would seem you wouldn’t need the community feature to have previously informed avast of your having the file.”
Perhaps there is, though, one specific scenario… the file in question is suspicious, the community feature communicates more information about it (or the results of local analysis of it) to avast than FileRep would, and it is that additional information that leads to a change in the file’s reputation.
Yea,
I’m not sure. Maybe if you uncheck the participation, Avast won’t include your use of the software in statistical representative samples, like when the Avast map shows virus threats that they have blocked or killed by country. I have no problem with having it checked in the five years that I have used Avast. It sounds like you are not compromising security by not having it checked.
Jack
That was very usefull information , very professional.
I cant even get a normal answer on the Avast forum.
Again , what information does get collected if you uncheck the box ?
And even if the cloud features would be established , i dont really know if it works or not , so my question again , is it tested , that if you uncheck the box , the cloud features really work or not ?
Or do you not want to tell that and keep it a secret so people doubt and then people choose to check the box so that they are sure the cloud works ?
And people say , why you worry about the privacy policy of Avast and not of other AV vendors , because i like Avast and i wanted to use it , thats why i ask further , so i can make a decision.
Yes, they’re managed by other settings.
Yes, but you’re not collaborating. You’re just using the protection and not helping the same company that is releasing it for free to you.
Do not ask this question over and over again.
Information sent is annonymous and for statistics/protection only. None personal information is sent in any case, checked or not.
None.
No, it’s the tone, again, you’re asking that makes others react this way. You don’t trust avast and keep asking just to contradict the answers you get.
No secrets about that.
Vlk posted in the blog about FileRep and new features of the overcoming avast 7 at December or January.
There are press releases about it also.