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STOPzilla Safety Network


Effective: November 16, 2011
Last Updated: September 9, 2021

What is STOPzilla Safety Network?

STOPzilla Safety Network allows our users from around the world to help speed identification and further reduce the time to deliver protection against new security risks trying to infect your computer. The program collects selected security and application data and submits the data to our Singularity database for analysis to identify new threats and their sources, and to help improve user security and product functionality.

Why is STOPzilla Safety Network good for me?

By joining the STOPzilla Safety Network program you:

  • Participate in building better, stronger protection against the latest, unknown threats. The data you send, as well as the data from other users in the STOPzilla Safety Network is filtered by the STOPzilla Singularity database and sent to our researchers for further classification and analysis. When necessary, detections are added to our definition files and pushed out as updates to all of our users.
  • STOPzilla is committed to making the Web a safer place to work, surf and play. By providing critical security and application data, you contribute to the intelligence required to identify new threats and block them before they reach our computers.
What data does STOPzilla Safety Network collect from my computer?

STOPzilla Safety Network will collect and send to our security and application data including:

  • Non-executable and portable executable files that are identified as malware.
  • URLs of websites visited that the STOPzilla AntiVirus or STOPzilla AntiMalware products deem potentially fraudulent.
  • The URL of the website that you most recently visited prior to installation on your computer of a downloaded security risk.
  • Information about the processes, modules, windows and applications running on your computer from time to time, including at the time that a potential security risk is encountered and/or
  • A sample of data sent by your computer in response to a potential security risk.
Does STOPzilla Safety Network collect any personal information found on my computer?

RealDefense LLC takes steps to avoid collecting any personal information from your computer. Whenever possible data collected by STOPzilla Safety Network is anonymized before being transferred to us. However, the collected data may contain:

  • Your username, which should not be personally identifiable if you have selected an alias to protect your identity; and
  • Personally identifiable information that a potential security risk is obtaining from your computer, or attempting to obtain without your permission.
How can I join STOPzilla Safety Network?

There are two ways you can join STOPzilla Safety Network:

  • During the installation, make sure that the 'STOPzilla Safety Network' checkbox is selected.
  • If you have already installed the product, click the 'Support' tab then the 'Safety Network' tab to view the 'STOPzilla Safety Network' section. From there you can join by checking the 'Yes, I want to join the STOPzilla Safety Network' checkbox.
What if I join STOPzilla Safety Network and then change my mind?

You can cancel your participation in STOPzilla Safety Network at any time. To do so, open your STOPzilla application and click the 'Support' tab then the 'Safety Network' tab to view the 'STOPzilla Safety Network' section. From there you cancel your participation by un-checking the 'Yes, I want to join the STOPzilla Safety Network' checkbox.

How does RealDefense LLC use the data collected through STOPzilla Safety Network?

We use the data to:

  • Identify the source of potential security risks.
  • Improve the ability of our products to detect malicious behavior, fraudulent websites, crimeware, and other forms of Internet security threats.
  • Provide better protection to our customers in the future.
  • Create statistics derived from this information to track and publish reports on security risk trends.

RealDefense LLC may disclose the collected information if asked to do so by a law enforcement official as required or permitted by law or in response to a subpoena or other legal process. In order to promote awareness, detection and prevention of Internet security risks, RealDefense LLC may share certain information with research organizations and other security software vendors.

RealDefense LLC does not aggregate the data stored by STOPzilla Safety Network with any data, contact lists, or subscription information that is collected by us for promotional purposes.

How does RealDefense LLC store the data collected through STOPzilla Safety Network?

All STOPzilla Safety Network data is stored in a secure manner and is not correlated with any personally identifiable information.