Who owns Avast SecureLine VPN? Company, jurisdiction and related brands

The company behind the service

Avast SecureLine VPN is made by Gen Digital Inc. Avast itself was founded in the Czech Republic, but since September 2022 it has been part of an American group: that is when the merger of NortonLifeLock and Avast was completed, and in November the combined company changed its name to Gen Digital and is now listed on NASDAQ under the ticker GEN. The group has two head offices, in Tempe (Arizona) and Prague, but the legal entity listed as the owner of the VPN is registered in the US.

Which brands share the same owner

Besides Avast One, the group includes AVG, Norton, Avira and CCleaner. Avast bought AVG back in 2016, and Norton came along with NortonLifeLock. The VPNs of the group's brands are rated differently: HMA VPN scores highest with 3.29, then Norton VPN with 3.01, Avast SecureLine itself scores 2.88, AVG Secure VPN 2.81, and Avira Phantom VPN just 1.70. There are also simpler options: Avast Free VPN with 2.72 and the VPN in the Avast Secure Browser with 2.43. The spread shows that a shared owner does not make the products identical: each has its own plans and feature set. The full list is collected on the Gen Digital VPN brands page.

What US jurisdiction means

For a user, the country of the legal entity matters most, and within the group it differs: in our data, HMA VPN and Avast Free VPN are listed as Czech, while Avast SecureLine VPN is US. The US belongs to the 5 Eyes intelligence alliance, so Avast gets zero points for the jurisdiction criterion in our privacy assessment. The VPN's policy does not say how the service responds to government requests. Other services with the same jurisdiction are collected in the roundup of VPNs from the USA.

Are Avast and AVG one company?

Yes, both brands belong to Gen Digital, but their VPNs are sold as separate products.