Like many others, do you also believe that the popular system-cleaning tool CCleaner was performing well before Avast acquired the software from Piriform last year? If yes, then pop-up advertisements in the previous CCleaner software version was not the last thing you have to deal with. Avast has released a new version of CCleaner 5.45 that not only always runs in the background, but also collects information about your system without giving you a way to turn the feature off.
CCleaner is a popular application, available in both free and premium versions, with over 2 billion downloads that allow users to clean up their Windows, Mac, and mobile devices to optimize and enhance performance.
Last year, CCleaner made headlines when it suffered a massive supply-chain malware attack of all times, wherein hackers compromised its servers for over a month and replaced the original version of the software with the malicious one, infecting over 2.3 million users worldwide.
The monitoring elements of CCleaner send user data such as anonymous system usage data back to the company's servers, as well as continuously scan systems to inform users when it comes across any junk or browser file. What's concerning is that even after turning off the Active Monitoring feature from CCleaner's menus, it turns back ON automatically whenever users reboot their computer or close the software. In its changelog for CCleaner 5.45, Avast notes it "added more detailed reporting for bug fixes and product improvements." Besides this, CCleaner now also sends a heartbeat every 12 hours which reports up-to-date usage statistics to Avast, allowing the company to faster deliver bug fixes and product improvements. When asked about it on its forum, CCleaner said heartbeat sends only "non-personal, absolutely non-identifiable usage information to improve CCleaner." Though the information CCleaner gathers is entirely anonymous, users on various internet forums expressed their concerns about Avast data sharing practice, saying that the company ruined their favorite tool after acquiring it.
Moreover, CCleaner's privacy policy also says that it can share collected information with 3rd party companies.
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