Consumers United in Court (CUIC) is a non-profit foundation which protects the privacy of people by bring collective litigation when needed. We want to force organizations to comply with laws and regulations regarding the protection of our privacy.

CUIC stands for Consumers United in Court. You pronounce the abbreviation as "quick". But you can also pronounce it as "See You in Court" ;-).

The articles of association containing the full statutory purpose of CUIC Foundation can be found here. CUIC is registered in the Amsterdam Chamber of Commerce under number 84332794

We were founded by two well-known non-profit organizations: noyb, an NGO based in Austria and by Stichting Privacy First, an NGO based in the Netherlands.

Both noyb and Privacy First joined forces to create a serious and credible foundation (stichting) in the Netherlands for collective action.

A collective action is a court procedure in which an organization (like CUIC) is acting on behalf of a group of persons.

Since litigation in court can last for a longer period, can be very expensive and complex for consumers acting alone, CUIC joins forces and goes to court on the consumers' behalf to make sure that violation stops and that users will be adequately compensated for the violation of their privacy.

When CUIC wins a case, or agrees to settle on behalf of those (who choose to be) represented, all reasonable actions will be taken to reach as many consumers as possible. In that stage, the way in which the compensation process for participants can be handled effectively will be decided on as well. It can depend on the decision of the court or the agreement.

We set the highest standards for handling your data. How we do this is described in our privacy statement. You can find it here.

You can e-mail us at info@cuic.eu.

Avast violated European and Dutch privacy rules by spying on its users with its antivirus software and reselling data to third parties for its own gain through its own sister company Jumpshot.

Avast even ran special ads urging parents to use Avast browser extensions to make sure their children could browse the internet safely. Meanwhile, information about browsing habits, preferences, religion etc. was sold without the users' consent, often for subsequent commercial purposes, targeted marketing efforts or profiling. As a result, data of users of Avast software ended up in the hands of numerous third parties between May 2015 and 30 January 2020. The collective action covers this period of misconduct by Avast. CUIC demands Avast to reimburse the damages done.

Whilst Avast has publicly admitted its wrongdoing and confirmed having stopped the practice of reselling, it has not awarded any compensation to injured parties.

Until now, Avast has not been held accountable for its illegal behavior. Companies will generally not put much effort into doing better next time unless they are held accountable. Therefore, besides compensation for duped consumers, CUIC also wants to set a strong example that this behavior is unacceptable and will not be condoned.

We are going to hold Avast liable on behalf of all users in The Netherlands of Avast software for the illegal collection and sale of user data.

To participate in the collective action against Avast, you must live or have lived in the Netherlands in the period from May 2015 to 30 January 2020 (the "Relevant Period") and have had Avast security software or antivirus software on your computer, phone, tablet or laptop during this period. This often involved free browsers and browser extensions.

Are you under 18 and did you use Avast software? Then please ask permission from your parent(s) and/or guardian(s) to sign up for this case.

You can join our action using the form on this website. This is important to us because we want to prove in court that many Avast users join us in our collective action. The more people sign up, the stronger we are as a collective.

Signing up is free of charge. We work on a no cure, no pay basis. If the case does not succeed, and therefore no damages are paid, you do not owe anyone anything either. If damages do get awarded, the independent funder of the case -Omni Bridgeway- is entitled to a percentage of that. This is because litigation is expensive, and the funder assumes the start-up costs and also runs the financial risk. What percentage of your compensation you owe to Omni Bridgeway in the event of a successful case, depends on the amount of compensation and the number of injured parties. The participant agreement explains exactly how this works.

Depending on Avast's efforts, we expect the proceedings to take several years. Legal proceedings take time. Rest assured, we are motivated to bring consumers results as fast as possible.

Similar court cases have shown that the courts look closely at whether someone who applies actually exists and is a resident in the Netherlands. We don't want to run the risk of our cases breaking down on this. With IDIN, it can be conclusively proven that everyone who registers is actually a real person with residency in the Netherlands. In addition, as a foundation we have the highest standards of privacy. By using IDIN, we do not store your data. We only store the fact that you are identified. That file is automatically filed with a notary. This way, we have proof of your support, but not all kinds of personal data somewhere.

You can end your participation at any time if you wish to do so. A registration can be revoked within 14 days. After that, you can cancel at any time without giving reasons, subject to a 30-day notice period. But if you subsequently receive any compensation from Avast (partly) thanks to the efforts of the Foundation for Avast's actions as raised in the collective action, you will only owe the agreed possible compensation for costs despite the cancellation. And only if we cannot recover these costs from Avast, which we will always try as CUIC for all involved.

You can revoke or cancel by sending an email to: info@cuic.eu. In that e-mail, please include your name and e-mail address with which you registered. The Foundation will send a confirmation of the revocation or cancellation within 5 working days.

CUIC Foundation is an independent not-for-profit organization. The foundation was founded by two strong, independent organizations: the Dutch Privacy First and noyb. These two organizations both have a long, successful history of constructive struggle for a world where your privacy is guarded.

The management board of CUIC is responsible for its daily operations. More information about the board members can be found under 'about us'. Our articles of association can be found here.

The supervision of the board's policy and strategy and the general affairs of the CUIC Foundation is entrusted to our Supervisory Board. The Supervisory Board also advises, solicited and unsolicited, the board and performs the monitoring tasks defined in the "Claim Code 2019" [link to accountability document]. The Board can also be advised, only solicited, by other organizations.

More information on the members of the Supervisory Board can be found on this page.

The board members and Supervisory Board members of the Consumers United in Court Foundation (CUIC) receive remuneration for their work. This remuneration is in line with what is common in other non-profit organizations. The remuneration for the board members and supervisory board members be found in the claim code compliance document.

In the Avast claim, CUIC foundation is assisted by two law firms: Lemstra Van der Korst and Pels Rijcken. For more information, see the websites of Lemstra Van der Korst and Pels Rijcken. They have extensive experience in this type of collective action.

CUIC is an independent non-profit foundation. We do not ask for a contribution from the people we represent. Researching and preparing a collective action takes a lot of time and resources. Especially when legal proceedings are initiated. To make the proceedings against Avast possible without any contribution and risk for you as a participant, we use external funding.

For each lawsuit, we look for one or more ethical funders that are willing to advance the costs of the lawsuit and other costs, and run the risk. For our first lawsuit, against Avast, the costs are funded by Omni Bridgeway. This is originally an Australian company that has been funding lawsuits worldwide (not in the United States) since 1986. Their statutory seat is currently in Geneva, Switzerland. They have already supported numerous class actions against large organizations and companies that have caused mass damages. Read more at Omni Bridgeway's website.

If successful, all claimed compensation minus a fee for the Omni Bridgeway, will go to consumers having decided to join our action, like you potentially, and to those that can be found afterwards.