Android Flashlight App Developer Settles FTC Charges It Deceived Consumers "Brightest Flashlight" App Shared Users' Location, Device ID Without Consumers' Knowledge
The creator of one of the most popular apps for Android mobile devices has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that the free app, which allows a device to be used as a flashlight, deceived consumers about how their geolocation information would be shared with advertising networks and other third parties.
Goldenshores Technologies, LLC, managed by Erik M. Geidl, is the company behind the "Brightest Flashlight Free" app, which has been downloaded tens of millions of times by users of the Android operating system. The FTC's complaint alleges that the company's privacy policy deceptively failed to disclose that the app transmitted users' precise location and unique device identifier to third parties, including advertising networks. In addition, the complaint alleges that the company deceived consumers by presenting them with an option to not share their information, even though it was shared automatically rendering the option meaningless. ===== rest:
- nothing in the FTC info about whether this application only sent info when you activated the flashlight or if it spied on you at other times, too. _____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key snipped-for-privacy@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]