Do you know what Privacyassistant.net is?
Privacyassistant.net might affect major browsers, such as Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and Google Chrome. If you wonder how it can affect them or influence your browsing experience, you should read the rest of our article as we will provide more details about this search engine further in the text. For now, we would like you to know that the application is considered to be a browser hijacker. It does not say it is malicious or harmful; however, it shows the software might be untrustworthy, and you should be cautious with it. Also, computer security specialists believe Privacyassistant.net is not worth to be kept on the system and should be erased if the user is not prepared to take any chances with it. There is no need to worry if you have not encountered browser hijackers before and have no idea how to delete such threats since at the end of the article we will display a removal guide you could follow.
Privacyassistant.net might sound like a tool that could ensure your privacy while searching the Internet. Indeed the application’s Privacy Policy states the software’s creators take users’ privacy “very seriously” and do not collect user personal information unless the user willingly submits it. Still, it does not mean the application does not gather any information at all. The same document claims the tool can use cookies or other technologies to collect anonymous user information. For example, the search engine may record visited web pages, cookie information, IP address, browser type, and so on. Plus, it says such data could be used to analyze trends, track users’ movements, provide anonymous reporting to “internal and external clients,” etc. This might mean the software could share your anonymous data with third-party partners and the purpose of it might be to show you targeted advertising content.
Privacyassistant.net screenshot
Scroll down for full removal instructions
If you read the browser hijacker’s Terms of Use document, you will find out the search engine can display links to third-party sites. We believe these links could be in forms of pop-ups, banners, or other kinds of advertisements. Moreover, while reading the mentioned document, we learned such content cannot be trusted. Apparently, Privacyassistant.net creators take no responsibility for it and even warn that “these links may lead to sites or links that contain offensive and objectionable content or which might contain dangerous computer viruses.” The browser hijacker’s developers probably do not review third-party content and cannot say what you could expect to receive after interacting with third-party links. In other words, the links might lead to various web pages, and some of them might be malicious, for example, the sites could distribute malware or other threats alike, offer you to participate in fake lotteries, and so on.
The mentioned links or ads could appear while the user surfs the Internet, since the application may hijack the browser by replacing its default search provider, homepage, or new tab page. Because of this, you could be redirected to Privacyassistant.net every time you submit a search query, open a new tab, or just launch the affected browser. Such behavior might seem rather annoying and given the search engine may show you suspicious advertising content, we do not think you should leave it unattended.
Users who decide to get rid of the browser hijacker can eliminate it manually by following the provided removal guide. It will show how to restore the affected browser and change the altered browser preferences. If you want to remove Privacyassistant.net faster and with less effort, you could download a reputable antimalware tool instead and use its automatic features to erase the suspicious search engine without having to look for data it could have modified manually.
Get rid of Privacyassistant.net
Internet Explorer
- Press Windows Key+R.
- Type regedit and click OK.
- Locate this provided path: HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main
- Search for a value name known as Start Page.
- Right-Click this value name and select Modify.
- Replace its value data (http://Privacyassistant.net), for example, with google.com.
- Click OK and exit Registry Editor.
Mozilla Firefox
- Press Windows Key+E.
- Look for the provided directory: C:\Users\user\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\{Unique Mozilla user ID}
- Locate a file titled Prefs.js and open it with Notepad.
- Find this line: user_pref("browser.startup.homepage", "http://Privacyassistant.net").
- Replace http://Privacyassistant.net with a reliable link.
- Save these changes and close the document.
Google Chrome
- Tap Windows Key+E.
- Search for the provided location: C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default.
- Find and delete the following files: Preferences, Secure Preferences, and Web Data.
- Close File Explorer.
In non-techie terms:
Privacyassistant.net is a threat that could hijack your browser by changing its default preferences. It seems the tool might travel with bundled software installers, so some of you may have downloaded it without even realizing it. Yet, the most annoying thing about it might be third-party links the application could show you while surfing the Internet. Fortunately, it can be deleted quite quickly if you follow the removal guide we added a bit above this text. Also, users can erase it with a reputable antimalware tool, in which case one should firstly acquire such a tool, then set it to scan the system, and click the provided removal button to deal with all detected threats immediately.