Avast: We're not using CCleaner to spy on users

CCleaner's Active Monitoring feature refuses to be turned off - and end users aren't happy

Avast has responded to claims that the latest version of CCleaner is spying on users.

The claims were aired yesterday over concerns that the ‘Active Monitoring' feature in CCleaner could not be turned off. That is to say, while users can switch off the feature manually, it will be switched back on next time they boot up.

"That means, for most users, CCleaner will run continually in the background, reporting back to Avast. Given that CCleaner is a tool that most people only usually occasionally - when a system clean is long overdue usually - switching the behaviour so it runs permanently makes little sense," warned Beta News's Wayne Williams.

Privacy settings have also been removed from the free version, despite the introduction in May of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union. Users have also complained of having Avast anti-virus foist on their systems when they updated, despite performing custom installs.

However, Avast claims that the data it is collecting is aggregated and anonymised, and has promised to "share a fact sheet outlining what data we collect, its purpose and how it is processed".

In the statement, it described the changes to the popular CCleaner application that it acquired via its acquisition of London-based Piriform last year as "part of our ongoing mission to improve CCleaner and deliver a better customer experience".

It added that the new features in the latest version would provide "more accurate data" that will help the company "to detect bugs more quickly and let us know which CCleaner features are being used and which aren't".

Williams has previously complained about some of the changes that Avast has made to CCleaner, which last year was compromised in a sophisticated supply-chain attack. These include data-usage sharing with third parties that only Professional users could opt-out of, and regular pop-up ads.

UPDATE: Avast has provided Computing with the following statement:

"As part of our ongoing mission to improve CCleaner and deliver a better customer experience, we introduced some features in Version 5.45 aimed at providing us with more accurate data that would help us to detect bugs more quickly and let us know which CCleaner features are being used and which aren't.

"The information which is collected through these new features is aggregated, anonymous data and allows us to spot trends. This is very helpful to us for the purposes of improving our software and our customers' experience. No personally identifiable information is collected.

"We value the feedback from our users and are currently working on our next version of CCleaner which will separate out the cleaning functionality offered by Active Monitoring from analytics reporting, and offer more user control options which will be remembered when CCleaner is closed.

"In the interests of transparency, we'll also share a fact sheet outlining what data we collect, its purpose and how it is processed. We're also taking the opportunity to redesign the data settings within CCleaner so they are communicated in a clear and easy to understand way. Building and testing software sometimes takes a little time to get right, but we are working hard to release our next version as soon as possible."