As a father of three, I understand the difficulty of raising children in an increasingly online world. This first-hand experience made it even more pleasing to stand in the offices of AVG’s newest acquisition, a privacy and protection technology company called Privax, and to welcome all their employees officially to AVG.

Privax is behind a fantastic service called HMA! Pro which is a virtual private network (VPN) product that allows consumers to connect their mobile and desktop devices to the Internet securely and privately. It’s a great tool to ensure that personal data remains just that – personal data. VPNs give people more control over what information about themselves they are comfortable sharing and what they would prefer to keep to themselves when communicating, purchasing or searching online.

AVG understands that you are concerned about your privacy and this acquisition is part of our continued commitment to offering the best protection and privacy products available. It’s our goal to give you peace of mind when you go online on your mobile as well as your desktop devices. You’ve told us that you value choice when managing your own privacy settings, and for those with families, this is even more important as you look to protect your children online.

Research we carried out earlier this year with the Mobile Ecosystem Forum showed that 49% of people surveyed in 10 countries said trust prevented them from downloading or buying online, or using some or all apps from their mobile device. We also found that 72% were not happy sharing personal data with apps – compared with 65% last year.

Therefore, at Mobile World Congress earlier this year, our CEO, Gary Kovacs, made a public commitment to provide smart tools to help our customers reassert their privacy. This acquisition takes us one step further towards fulfilling this promise.