AVG BreachGuard - FAQs

General

What is AVG BreachGuard?

AVG BreachGuard is an advanced privacy solution that prevents your personal information from being exploited online for profit.

AVG BreachGuard alerts you if your personal information is leaked online, lets you control who can store and sell your personal information, and helps you adjust your online account settings to your desired privacy level.

What is the dark web?

The dark web is a more private part of the internet that can only be accessed with an anonymizing network like the Tor browser. The extreme privacy offered by the dark web makes it the ideal environment for criminals to illegally buy and sell leaked personal information.

What is a data breach?

A data breach occurs when sensitive personal information is compromised or exposed. This leaked data can then be sold on the dark web and purchased by criminals, who may use your breached personal information to impersonate you. This can mean setting up online accounts in your name, making online purchases using your payment card details, and even committing crimes in your name.

How can I create safe passwords for my online accounts?

When creating safe passwords for your online accounts, we recommend following the guidelines below:

• The password should contain at least 10 characters, but ideally 12 or more. The more characters you use, the more secure your password is.
• The password should not be used to access any other accounts or services.
• The safest passwords are phrases rather than single words. Select a phrase that is memorable for you, but not easily predictable.

What are data brokers?

Data brokers are large companies that collect and sell personal information. They collect this information by tracking your online activity, accessing public records, and legally purchasing data from other companies. Your personal information is used to create an accurate profile of you as an individual, including information about your interests, age, religion, medical issues, income, expenses, and shopping habits. Data brokers amass huge collections of personal profiles and sell them to other companies. Once a company has access to your personal profile, they can use this information to negatively impact your insurance rates, loan approvals, and more.

Download and Installation

How do I install AVG BreachGuard?

1. Click the button below to download the AVG BreachGuard setup file, and save it to a familiar location on your PC (by default, downloaded files are saved to your Downloads folder). Download AVG BreachGuard for Windows
2. Right-click the downloaded avg_breach_guard_online_setup.exe setup file and select Run as administrator from the context menu.
3. If prompted for permission by the User Account Control dialog, click Yes.
4. Follow the on-screen instructions to install AVG BreachGuard on your PC.

AVG BreachGuard is now installed on your PC. Before you can use the application, you need to sign in to AVG BreachGuard with your AVG Account and activate your paid subscription.

1. Click the button below to download the AVG BreachGuard setup file, and save it to a familiar location on your Mac (by default, downloaded files are saved to your Downloads folder). Download AVG BreachGuard for Mac
2. Double-click the downloaded setup file avg-breachguard.dmg.
3. Click the AVG BreachGuard icon and drag it to the Applications folder.
4. Open your Applications folder and double-click the AVG BreachGuard icon.

AVG BreachGuard is now installed on your Mac. Before you can use the application, you need to log in to AVG BreachGuard with your AVG Account and activate your paid subscription.

For detailed installation and activation instructions, refer to the following articles:

• Installing AVG BreachGuard
• Activating AVG BreachGuard

What are the system requirements for AVG BreachGuard?

Subscription and Activation

How do I activate my AVG BreachGuard subscription?

For detailed activation instructions, refer to the following article:

• Activating AVG BreachGuard

What should I do if activation is unsuccessful?

For instructions to resolve common activation issues, refer to the following article:

• Troubleshooting activation issues in AVG products

Can I use AVG BreachGuard on multiple devices and platforms?

Check the conditions for the subscription option you purchased:

• AVG BreachGuard (Multi-Device): You can activate your subscription on up to 10 devices simultaneously, regardless of platform. You can transfer your subscription freely between devices and platforms.
• AVG BreachGuard for PC: You can activate your subscription on one Windows PC. You can transfer your subscription to an alternative Windows PC, but you cannot use your AVG BreachGuard subscription on more than one PC simultaneously.
• AVG BreachGuard for Mac: You can activate your subscription on one Mac. You can transfer your subscription to an alternative Mac, but you cannot use your AVG BreachGuard subscription on more than one Mac simultaneously.

For instructions on how to transfer your subscription to another device, refer to the following article:

• Transferring an AVG subscription to another device

How can I cancel an AVG subscription?

For information about canceling an AVG subscription, refer to the following article:

• Canceling an AVG subscription - Frequently Asked Questions

Features and Usage

How do I use AVG BreachGuard?

For detailed instructions on how to use AVG BreachGuard, refer to the following article:

• AVG BreachGuard - Getting Started

What is Personal Info Remover?

Personal Info Remover simplifies the complex and time-consuming task of removing your personal info from data broker databases by submitting data removal requests to the data brokers on your behalf. When you click the Personal Info Remover tile for the first time, you need select a location. We recommend only selecting the country where you live, or a country where you have previously lived.

Refer to the relevant information below according to the location that you select:

• The USA: You are prompted to complete our info removal request form. You can then send your first data removal requests to all identified data brokers. We continuously scan for new data brokers and let you know if you need to resubmit your data removal requests. For more information, refer to the following article:
  • AVG BreachGuard - Getting Started
• The rest of the world: You are prompted to install AVG Online Security in your web browser. Because Personal Info Remover is not available in your location, the Personal Info Remover tile on the application dashboard changes to Ads opt-out.
• The rest of the world: You are prompted to install AVG Online Security in your web browser.

Will I receive confirmation from data brokers when my personal info is removed?

No. When data removal requests are successfully sent to data brokers using AVG BreachGuard, you normally do not receive confirmation from the individual data brokers when they remove your data. However, data brokers are legally obligated to remove all of your personal information from their databases upon receiving your data removal request.

What is Ads opt-out?

The Ads opt-out tile allows you to easily install the AVG Online Security browser extension. After installing AVG Online Security, we recommend using the Advertising data collection feature to send opt-out requests to online advertisers. After receiving your opt-out requests, the online advertisers are legally obligated to stop collecting and selling your personal information.

AVG Online Security also includes many other security and privacy features that are designed to complement the existing features available in AVG BreachGuard.

For more information about AVG Online Security, refer to the following article:

• AVG Online Security - Getting Started

What is Risk Monitor?

Risk Monitor monitors the dark web 24/7 to alert you if your personal information has been involved in a data breach and helps you update your passwords to mitigate future risks.

The Risk Monitor tile on the AVG BreachGuard dashboard shows the current status of this feature:

• Active: Your online accounts are currently safe. AVG BreachGuard is actively monitoring the dark web for data breaches involving your accounts.
• Privacy threats: Your online accounts are vulnerable or breached. Click the Risk Monitor tile for more information and to resolve the detected threats.
• Inactive: You have not yet added any monitored email accounts, so AVG BreachGuard cannot check for data breaches involving your online accounts.

How do I add a new monitored email account?

Follow these steps:

1. Go to ☰ Menu ▸ Settings.
2. Ensure Emails is selected in the left panel.
3. Ensure Email is selected in the top panel.
4. Click Add new email account.
5. Enter the email address that you want AVG BreachGuard to monitor, then click Save.

The new email address now appears under Monitored email accounts. If you see the message check your inbox to verify, you need to go to your email inbox and verify that the email address is really yours. When the email address is successfully verified, it shows a green tick.

Which browsers are compatible with AVG BreachGuard?

AVG BreachGuard scans your web browsers for weak or duplicated passwords. Additionally, the application offers personalized tips to protect your online privacy by scanning your browsing history and bookmarks. AVG BreachGuard is compatible with the following web browsers:

• Google Chrome
• Mozilla Firefox
• Microsoft Edge (version 79.0.309 and higher)
• Opera
• Brave
• Avast Secure Browser
• AVG Secure Browser

• Google Chrome
• Mozilla Firefox
• Opera

To ensure that AVG BreachGuard is protecting all of your installed browsers, go to ☰ Menu ▸ Settings ▸ Browsers. The Browsers screen shows all of the compatible browsers that are installed on your device. To start protecting a new browser, click the red (OFF) slider next to the browser so that it changes to green (ON).

What is Privacy Advisor?

Privacy Advisor provides step-by-step advice on how to adjust the privacy settings of your major online accounts to reduce the amount of personal information you share.

To use Privacy Advisor:

1. Click the Privacy Advisor tile on the AVG BreachGuard dashboard.
2. Click Show details next to a listed recommendation.
3. Click Show guide next to a listed recommendation.
4. Follow the on-screen instructions to apply the recommendation. Instructions include gifs, images, and direct links to any relevant web pages.
5. After completion, click Mark as done so AVG BreachGuard does not recommend this action again.
6. After completion, click Mark as complete so AVG BreachGuard does not recommend this action again.

Settings for the relevant account are now adjusted to your desired privacy level.

What is Identity Assist?

Identity Assist allows you to speak to one of our Identity Assist experts free of charge 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. Our experts offer two separate services depending on your needs:

• ScamAssist®: Our experts can investigate potentially fraudulent solicitations (including emails, letters, and phone calls) on your behalf.
• Identity Resolution: If you are a victim of identity theft, or you believe you may be vulnerable to identity theft, our experts can immediately take the appropriate action to remedy the situation.

For more information about Identity Assist, refer to the following article:

• Identity Assist - Frequently Asked Questions

What is AVG Online Security?

The AVG Online Security browser extension lets you control who has access to your private data, and warns you about malicious websites and phishing scams.

You can install AVG Online Security directly via the AVG BreachGuard application by following these steps:

1. Open AVG BreachGuard and go to ☰ Menu ▸ Settings.
2. Click Extensions in the left panel.
3. Click Extensions in the top panel.
4. Click Install next to your preferred web browser and follow the on-screen instructions to install AVG Online Security.

We recommend installing AVG Online Security in each of the browsers installed on your PC.

We recommend installing AVG Online Security in each of the browsers installed on your Mac.

To learn more about AVG Online Security, refer to the following article:

• AVG Online Security - Getting Started

How can I update my location details?

To update your location:

1. Open AVG BreachGuard and go to ☰ Menu ▸ Settings.
2. Click the Location tab.
3. Use the Choose a country drop-down menu to select your chosen location.
4. Use the drop-down menu to select your chosen location.

AVG BreachGuard now shows the available features for your chosen location.

Troubleshooting

How can I uninstall AVG BreachGuard?

For detailed uninstallation instructions, refer to the following article:

• Uninstalling AVG BreachGuard

Why does Risk Monitor show as 'inactive'?

This means that you have not yet entered any email accounts for AVG BreachGuard to monitor, so the application cannot check your online accounts for threats.

Why does Risk Monitor not detect any threats?

If Risk Monitor does not detect any vulnerable online accounts, try the following:

• Ensure all of your email addresses appear on your list of monitored email accounts. To verify your current list of monitored email accounts, go to ☰ Menu ▸ Settings ▸ EmailsEmail.
• Ensure AVG BreachGuard is protecting all of your installed web browsers. To verify your current protected web browsers, go to ☰ Menu ▸ Settings ▸ Browsers.

How can I report an issue to AVG Support?

You can report an issue to AVG Support using the contact form below:

• Need help?