AVG Technologies Among the First to Debut Short Data Privacy Notice for Mobile Apps

AMSTERDAM and SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 24, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- AVG Technologies N.V. (NYSE: AVG), the online security company for 177 million active users, today announced it has begun rolling out a short data privacy notice within its mobile apps to make it transparent to customers what data is collected and how it is shared. AVG is one of the first in the industry to pursue this best practice which arises from the National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA) Privacy Multi-StakeHolder Process, Short Form Notice Code of Conduct to Promote Transparency in Mobile App Practices, announced in July last year.

"AVG is an innovator in security and privacy and has clearly recognized that greater transparency leads to greater trust," said Jules Polonetsky, Director of the Future of Privacy Forum. "We're looking forward to other companies following the lead of AVG in embracing the 'human readable' privacy disclosure approach."

AVG monitored the progress of the NTIA Privacy Multi stakeholder process on Mobile Application Transparency from 2012 through to the resulting Code of Conduct that was finalized in 2013. With the delivery of a prototype of a short data privacy notice that will be rolled out across its mobile apps, AVG is one of the first to publicly announce a response to the new guidelines.

"As a responsible mobile app provider, we are aware that most consumers don't read every privacy policy end to end for every app they download since they can be complicated and time-consuming to understand. We also know from the recent MEF Global Consumer Trust Report, in association with AVG, that 65 per cent of consumers are unhappy sharing personal information with an app. We welcome the NTIA's initiative to provide a regulatory framework to support a new industry-wide approach. Our resulting short data privacy notice is a 'nutrition label' style notice that the company plans to roll out across all our mobile apps this year," said Jim Brock, VP Privacy Products, AVG Technologies. "In the Internet of Things, consumers are often unwittingly sharing more data than they realize. Through the consistent application of our short data privacy notice across all of our apps we will ensure our customers understand if our apps collect data, why and for what purpose it may be shared."

As part of the NTIA effort, consumer and privacy groups including the American Civil Liberties Union, World Privacy Forum, Consumer Action, Future of Privacy Forum and the App Developers Alliance backed a code calling for a short privacy notice that uses standardized and straightforward language. Model notices created by the Future of Privacy Forum were subsequently tested within the AVG app community by the AVG User Experience team to ensure that the style, language and interface met the goals of the project. The AVG Short Data Privacy Notice app will be rolled out first on the AVG AntiVirus range of mobile apps.

For more information on AVG and privacy, read Jim Brock's latest blogs or download AVG PrivacyFix™ to check your privacy exposure on Facebook®, Google® and LinkedIn®.

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About AVG Technologies (NYSE: AVG)
AVG's mission is to simplify, optimize and secure the Internet experience, providing peace of mind to a connected world. AVG's powerful yet easy-to‐use software and online services put users in control of their Internet experience. By choosing AVG's software and services, users become part of a trusted global community that benefits from inherent network effects, mutual protection and support. AVG has grown its user base to 177 million active users as of December 31, 2013 and offers a protection, performance and privacy products and services suite to consumers and small businesses including Internet security, performance optimization, mobile security, online backup, identity protection and family safety software. 
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