Myprivacyassistant.com search hardly guarantees privacy protection

Myprivacyassistant.com (by NextAd Media Group Ltd.) appears to come from SearchAssist.net browser hijacker’s family. It is one of those annoying programs that replace your browser’s start page and search engine settings.[1] Such changes are made in order to convince the user to use different ad-supported search tools that generate revenue for their developers.
Although the name of Myprivacyassistant.com virus suggests that it should offer some privacy during your browsing sessions, it behaves in a completely opposite way. Instead of securing your browsing sessions from tracking, it tracks you itself. Although it says that “SearchAssist takes your privacy very seriously,” it later admits collecting certain pieces of information using tracking cookies.
We wouldn’t describe this as privacy protection, or at least wouldn’t say that it can be called dedication to user’s privacy. To put it simply, it behaves like any other browser hijacker that collects browsing-related data to serve interest-based ads.[2] Therefore, we see no difference between My Privacy Assistant or any other browser redirect virus that injects affiliate links into search results.
MyPrivacyAssistant’s collaboration with Trovi Search[3] doesn’t encourage us to trust this search tool as well, especially because Trovi.com is known to be one of the top browser hijackers available today. Sponsored results provided by it can lead the victim to all sorts of websites, so the user has to be extra careful while trying to find information online. We see no point in using such search tools that aggravate browsing, so we recommend you to remove Myprivacyassistant.com without any hesitation.
If you hesitate whether you should remove the described hijacker or not, just remember that it serves sponsored links in search results without checking whether they are trustworthy or not. We do not think that such search tool should be considered reliable.
Therefore, Myprivacyassistant.com removal is the only way to fix your browsers and use your preferred search engine instead. If you are interested in its removal methods, check out programs like FortectIntego or use the guide provided below the article.

Things to know if you cannot remember installing the browser hijacker
The described browser hijacker installs itself on computers that lack essential anti-spyware protection. However, even without security programs, it is possible to keep browser hijackers at bay, which cannot be said about critical computer programs like ransomware.
To prevent browser hijackers from sneaking in, always choose advanced software installation options to install your downloads. Differently, than default installation settings, these will provide you with a possibility to deselect unwanted additional programs bundled with your download. This way, you won’t have to search for their removal guidelines later.
Remove Myprivacyassistant.com redirect virus for good
Can’t find a way to remove Myprivacyassistant.com virus? Just use the guidelines provided below the article. Typical browser hijacker removal routine consists of checking for recently installed suspicious programs, modified browser shortcut settings and elimination of unwanted browser add-ons. In rare cases, users need to meddle with Registry settings to wipe the remains of the hijacker.
However, hopefully, you won’t need to take such drastic actions to complete Myprivacyassistant.com removal. When in doubt, you can always run a security software and see what components of browser hijacker still stay on your system. You can delete these manually or automatically.
Uninstall from Windows
Uninstall from Windows 10/8:
- Type Control Panel into the Windows search box and open the result.
- Under Programs, select Uninstall a program.

Uninstall from Windows 7/XP:
- Click on Windows Start > Control Panel (Windows XP users should click on Add/Remove Programs).
- In Control Panel, select Programs > Uninstall a program.

Remove the unwanted program:
- In the Programs and Features window, look for any recently installed suspicious entries, select them, and click Uninstall.
- If User Account Control appears, click Yes to confirm, then complete the removal.

Delete from macOS
Remove the unwanted application:
- From the menu bar, select Go > Applications.
- In the Applications folder, look for any suspicious entries, then drag them to Trash (or right-click and pick Move to Trash).

Delete leftover files and folders:
- Select Go > Go to Folder.
- Enter /Library/Application Support and remove any suspicious folders related to the unwanted program.
- Repeat the same check in the /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons folders, deleting any suspicious entries.

- Finally, empty the Trash to permanently remove the leftovers.
Reset Internet Explorer
Remove dangerous add-ons:
- Open Internet Explorer, click on the Gear icon (IE menu) on the top-right corner of the browser
- Pick Manage Add-ons.
- You will see a Manage Add-ons window. Here, look for suspicious plugins. Click on these entries and select Disable.

Change your homepage if it was altered:
- Open IE and click on the Gear icon.
- Select Internet Options.
- In the General tab, delete the Home page address and replace it by your preferred one (for example, Google.com).
- Click Apply and then select OK.

Delete temporary files:
- Press on the Gear icon and select Internet Options.
- Under Browsing history, click Delete...
- Select relevant fields and press Delete.

Reset Internet Explorer:
- Click on Gear icon > Internet options and select Advanced tab.
- Select Reset.
- In the new window, check Delete personal settings and select Reset.

Remove from Microsoft Edge
Delete unwanted extensions from MS Edge:
- Select Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and pick Extensions.
- From the list, pick the extension and click on the Gear icon.
- Click Remove.

Clear cookies and other browser data:
- Click on the Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and select Settings > Privacy, search, and services..
- Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
- Select Cookies and other site data and Cached images and files. (apart from passwords, although you might want to include Media licenses as well, if applicable) and click on Clear.

Restore new tab and homepage settings:
- Click the menu icon and choose Settings.
- Then find On startup section.
- Click Remove next to any suspicious startup page.
Reset MS Edge if the above steps did not work:
- Press on Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
- Click on More details arrow at the bottom of the window.
- Select Details tab.
- Now scroll down and locate every entry with Microsoft Edge name in it. Right-click on each of them and select End Task to stop MS Edge from running.

Instructions for Chromium-based Edge
Delete extensions from MS Edge (Chromium):
- Open Edge and click select Settings > Extensions.
- Delete unwanted extensions by clicking Remove.

Clear cache and site data:
- Click on Menu and go to Settings.
- Select Privacy, search and services.
- Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
- Under Time range, pick All time.
- Select Clear now.

Reset Chromium-based MS Edge:
- Click on Menu and select Settings.
- On the left side, pick Reset settings.
- Select Restore settings to their default values.
- Confirm with Reset.
- This will disable extensions and reset startup pages but will not delete bookmarks, saved passwords, or browsing history.

Remove from Mozilla Firefox (FF)
Remove dangerous extensions:
- Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click on the Menu (three horizontal lines at the top-right of the window).
- Select Add-ons.
- In here, select the unwanted extension and click Remove.

Reset the homepage:
- Click three horizontal lines at the top right corner to open the menu.
- Choose Settings.
- Under Home, set your preferred homepage and new tab settings.
Clear cookies and site data:
- Click Menu and pick Settings.
- Go to Privacy & Security section.
- Scroll down to locate Cookies and Site Data.
- Click on Clear Data...
- Select Cookies and Site Data and Temporary cached files and pages, then click Clear.

Reset Mozilla Firefox
If clearing the browser as explained above did not help, reset Mozilla Firefox:
- Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click the Menu.
- Go to Help and then choose Troubleshooting Information.

- Under Give Firefox a tune up section, click on Refresh Firefox...
- Once the pop-up shows up, confirm the action by pressing on Refresh Firefox.

Remove from Google Chrome
Delete malicious extensions from Google Chrome:
- Open Google Chrome, click on the Menu (three vertical dots at the top-right corner) and select More tools > Extensions.
- In the newly opened window, you will see all the installed extensions. Uninstall all suspicious extensions related to the unwanted program by clicking Remove.

Clear cache and web data from Chrome:
- Click on Menu and pick Settings.
- Under Privacy and security, select Clear browsing data.
- Select Browsing history, Cookies and other site data, as well as Cached images and files.
- Click Clear data.

Change your homepage:
- Click menu and choose Settings.
- Look for a suspicious site in the On startup section.
- Click on Open a specific or set of pages and click on three dots to find the Remove option.
Reset Google Chrome:
If the previous methods did not help you, reset Google Chrome to eliminate all the unwanted components:
- Click on Menu and select Settings.
- In the Settings, scroll down and click Advanced.
- Scroll down and locate Reset and clean up section.
- Now click Restore settings to their original defaults.
- Confirm with Reset settings.

Delete from Safari
Remove dangerous extensions:
- Open Safari, click Safari in the menu at the top-left of the screen, and select Preferences.
- Go to the Extensions tab, look for any suspicious entries, and click Uninstall to remove them.

Clear history and website data:
- Click Safari in the menu and pick Clear History.
- Set Clear to all history and confirm with Clear History.

Reset Safari:
- Click Safari in the menu and select Preferences > Advanced.
- Enable Show Develop menu in menu bar.
- From the menu bar, click Develop and select Empty Caches.

Did this guide help?
Be the first to comment