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FTC Drops the Hammer On Maker of Location-Sharing Flashlight App
chicksdaddy writes "The Federal Trade Commission announced on Thursday that it settled with the maker of 'Brightest Flashlight Free,' a popular Android mobile application, over charges that the company used deceptive advertising to collect location and device information from Android owners. The FTC says the company failed to disclose wanton harvesting and sharing of customers' locations and mobile device identities with third parties. Brightest Flashlight Free, which allows Android owners to use their phone as a flashlight, is a top download from Google Play, the main Android marketplace. Statistics from the site indicate that it has been downloaded more than one million times with an overall rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars. The application, which is available for free, displays mobile advertisements on the devices it is installed on. However, the device also harvested a wide range of data from Android phones which was shared with advertisers, including what the FTC describes as 'precise geolocation along with persistent device identifiers.' As part of the settlement with the FTC, Goldenshores is ordered to change its advertisements and in-app disclosures to make explicit any collection of geolocation information, how it is or may be used, the reason for collecting location information and which third parties that data is shared with."
But if the app doesn't know your location, how would it possibly know where to provide the light?
It's for the LED flash next to the camera, which is much brighter than a white screen.
Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
Four keywords: cyanogenmod with p-droid patch
If someone still says that Android's (or IOS I suppose) security model isn't completely broken...
Why can't the user choose to disable networking on a per-app level?
Doesn't your phone have a camera flash that can be used as a flashlight and works just as well? I think this has been standard for the past 5 years, and most phones have a flashlight app that comes on the phone.
The Official Site of 1337 Pwnage
Who gives a flashlight app permissions to access location, internet, flash drive, etc?
DO AS WE SAY NOT AS WE DO!
When you installed it, didn't you look at the list of what it has access to? If I saw it wanting to get my location I would have stopped right there and not installed it. No flashlight app needs to know my location to work.
I think at this point, the default mode for most Android users is to just allow, as most apps have a laundry list of things they want access to. It's probably the second-least read message from an app install of all time (first being the EULA).
No, that is not wise. But people aren't always wise.
Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
No civil fines.
No criminal penalties.
No admission of guilt.
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
ah, so that's why the display on the back side of my phone left me seeing red
This is just the tip of the dirty iceberg here. Thousands of apps do this and far worse for your privacy. Caveat Emptor
I switched to a FireFox phone.
I have an iPhone 5 and a Nexus 7.
When I download an app on the Nexus, I always feel an uneasiness as I look at all the access it wants to my contacts and other invasively unnecessary permissions. So each time I must make a decision to accept or reject using the app. I've rejected some that just seem overreaching, but I've become less strict over time... like I'm accepting to lose a battle. I assure myself, that my phone has all my real contacts, not my Nexus 7 and then begrudgingly accept the conditions. This is one reason I will not use an android phone and why I rarely download apps on android.
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/13/12/06/1452241/ftc-drops-the-hammer-on-maker-of-location-sharing-flashlight-app#
iOS, for those that don't know, will let me decline permissions to track my location or share my contacts on a per-app basis. Even if I enabled it before, I can go into the control center and disable it. I don't benefit from that aspect of the iOS app, but I'm fine with that. For all the control that Android is supposed to give the user, iOS shines here and I wish that is one thing that Android would copy.
The government has a lot of balls pointing fingers like that...
I don't believe it is fingers that they are pointing.
I'd heard Cyanogenmod was experimenting with a means to deny specific privs to an application rather than take the all-or-nothing approach of "You have to give me all this shit or you can't install it." That's a feature I'd really like to have for my Android phone.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
Only the NSA may track every phone on the planet!
But in their defense, you at least got a free flashlight out of it and your tax money didn't have to pay for it, so...
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Doesn't your phone have a camera flash that can be used as a flashlight and works just as well? I think this has been standard for the past 5 years, and most phones have a flashlight app that comes on the phone.
I'm still on an older Virgin Mobile economy froyo phone (Optimus V), no flash. It's tough as hell, still works after many drops to concrete and one fall into a creek. I figure why upgrade while this one is still working fine. It gets the internet when I need to googlemap something, functions as an mp3 player, and the phone's mike/speaker still function.
Well, that said, I guess I gotta' go shave my neck now...
Should have said "products".
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
As someone that used to work with mobile security - this is tiny minority that got caught. If you carry your mobile phone with you, then you have no reasonable expectation of privacy. Treat your smartphone as a combination of public WiFi and a court-assigned GSP tracking ankle bracelet.
flAshlight app. With an 'a'. Had me worried for a bit.
Part of my job involves inspecting outbound network connections from android apps. Practically every ad network is sending your coordinates or location anyways. It seems a bit weird the FTC cared that the app was doing the same when it already had ads on it...
Before you mod me funny, think, perhaps I was insightfully funny?
They'd fail the technical requirements checklist and never be allowed on the store.
No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
Just the name of the app already triggers my warning bells. Poor grammar (why is "Free" in the app name, let alone at the end?!) and the "Brightest!" modifier (reminds me of all those countries with "People's" and "Democratic" in the names) make me suspicious. And this was in the Google store? Shame, Google.
Unity? Screw that: XFCE. Slashdot Beta? Screw that: SoylentNews. Australis? Screw that: Pale Moon. UX developers DIAF
I just hold down the lock switch for a second to turn on the LED, it's a built-in feature on my Nokia.
But why doesn't Android sandbox apps in a way that the app is unaware of? Just present all apps with an empty contact list, a fake GPS location, an empty drive, etc and the user grants permissions to substitute the real ones as needed. That way, all apps could be installed and you'd get a popup such as "this app wants your location" in a similar way to IOS, only this way the app would keep working if you said no.
Indeed, why do you need an APP for this. My ROM (CM 10.2) has a "torch" function built in. Why would you need an app for it?
This is not an Android problem this is a problem with crappy carrier priorities. Must bundle crap nobody wants, and not include the obvious highly requested features.
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
Apparently you're completely unaware of Google's business model.
There used to be a utility called LBE Privacy Guard which did exactly this in earlier versions of Android, and on jailbroken iPhones, a utility called PMP (protect my privacy.) If the app wants contacts, it gets randomly generated cards. Songs, similar. Location, it gets where you select. Photos? Fake photos or an empty drive, ad id? Randomly generated.
Only thing is that LBE Privacy Guard has not been updated for the past few versions of Android.
Pretty much, one's best defense against a rogue fleshlight app is to have a firewall program like Droidwall or its successors and block the app from communicating on any interface.
This settlement meant that the company had to do NOTHING other than to go forth and sin no more. They did not have to pay a single solitary dime, consent to long-term monitoring, or do anything really, beyond promising they would not continue to do something they unambiguously should never have been doing in the first place.
Yeah, that'll teach 'em!
When you install an app, Andorid tells you the permissions the app needs and asks you to confirm.
If your'e dumb enough to not question why a flashlight app would need access to GPS and the internet, and you still install the app anyway, then you deserve all you get.
The "built-in" torch function you're talking about in CM is an app. It's open source - see here: https://github.com/CyanogenMod/android_packages_apps_Torch .
You make it an app because it makes no sense to integrate such a feature directly in the OS/ROM - it would take longer, and that way you can update it and have additional features (morse code flashing, for example).
What baffles me is why people would install an app named "Brightest Flashlight Free" (name sounds like a moron-magnet), which probably require network access and include ads, when there are tens of ads-less Open-Source alternatives in the Google market as well as outside it.
Great, the FCC told them not to do it. Let's just say that actually gets them to stop harvesting the data (hahahaha)... what about the data that's already been harvested? They've already stolen a valuable resource which they can continue to sell to 3rd parties.
For that matter, what about the data already in the hands of the 3rd parties? They can do whatever they want with it with impunity.
Maybe we need to hold 3rd party marketers liable, too. Pawn shops are on the hook if they buy stolen items. Let's make marketers pay the same way. Did you buy marketing data from a skeevy company, and that company just got fined? You get fined too, for at least the same amount. Or double. Just watch how quickly the industry starts policing itself, overnight.
UTF-8: There and Back Again
When I read the access request for any Android app, I end up declining. SD card, network, contacts, and location access, for a kitchen timer? No thanks. That's why I have no apps on my phone and why I miss my Startac.
And I just don't have the time to mess around with custom roms or rooting the phone.
:wq
There are a couple of kids on your lawn too.
Rogue fleshlight? I don't wanna know where that thing has been...
I have a couple of calculator apps on the Android market. Obviously, a calculator has zero need for any of your personal data, and that's how much I collect -- zero.
I recently received an email from "Appayable.com". They provide me with a spyware module to add to my apps. The spyware module collects users' personal data and uploads it to Appayable.com. I get paid. Profit!
They say they only sell anonymized data, but I still thought it was a pretty reprehensible business model. I suspect it's pretty common practice, though.
The letter:
I noticed that RpnCalc Financial -- HP 12C has seen a growing number of downloads in recent weeks. I wanted to reach out and discuss how my company, Appayable, offers developers the opportunity to monetize their app without placing ads or impacting user experience
We pull the social profile of your users, anonymize the data, and identify the mobile device. Appayable's SDK does not take up screen real estate on your application, maintaining the great user experience, and providing more revenue for you. Plus, we do not rely on impressions - as we do not place ads within your app - thus, you generate revenue based on a single download and install. No need to retain the user - only have them open the application once.
The revenue stream created is ongoing based on our data partnerships, regardless of continued use of the mobile application.
We've worked hard to make it really simple for you to integrate our service into your app, and as a result have over 6,500 applications on our platform in only 6-months! Whe you have a few minutes, I'd love to talk to you or the appropriate person about working with us.
I just recently got a Nexus 5 to replace my aging Nokia N9 and was amazed by the near complete lack of simple tools that don't want access to your data in return. For the N9, there were a ton of useful free open source tools provided by the community over at maemo.org. That community was great. Every time I thought that there was something that was missing or new capability I wanted, I'd look there and find an app that already exists or a group of people in the process of building it.
The contrast between that experience and the excessive commercialism of Android was startling. After looking around for a while I did find this Simple LED Widget that is just what it says and doesn't require any unnecessary permissions, but I had to sift through dozens of apps like the one in the TFA.
Is there anything even close to maemo.org for Android? I've heard some good things about F-Droid, but I haven't looked into it enough yet to know if it's the best option.
Knowledge Brings Fear
iPhone doesn't need it since every app has to be approved by Apple themselves before hitting the appstore and iOS doesn't allow access to contacts or locations without a large popup saying "do you want this app to access (blank)?" Which you can turn off anytime in settings. There are some advantages to a walled garden
my karma will be here long after I'm gone
TeslaLED
What's obviously missing is a Mock App - something that will satisfy all those requests and provide them with the data they want - fake data.
Sadly, I don't expect Google - whose revenue stream is largely based on advertisement - would make that possible in Android.
Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
When you installed it, didn't you look at the list of what it has access to? If I saw it wanting to get my location I would have stopped right there and not installed it. No flashlight app needs to know my location to work.
Many ad supported apps want your location so they can serve geo targeted ads.
Though there are plenty of free non, ad-supported flashlight apps. The only permission the app I'm using has is the ability to access the camera.
So when will the Government fine itself or the NSA for gathering my location info without telling me. Heck, I didn't even download their app.
Even if application permissions were granted individually and even if application developers wrote their code in such a way that the application would behave as normally as possible without them, what's there to stop them from sabotaging the application in another manner until it's granted the permission they want? For example, let's say an application requests location access, and until it's granted, it simply "decides" not to work. Another example, one that cannot be simulated, is network access. Rinse, wash, repeat.
Thats exactly how things should work -- if the app author doesn't want to let the app run without whatever permissions he deems as neccessary, then he should just have the app refuse to run without the permission.
Then the user can decide if he wants the app enough to let it have whatever permission it wants.
If I install a flashlight app that wants network access and it refuses to work if I deny that access, then I would uninstall the app and give it a bad review.
There is a way to "self censor" the app, which is to download it, mark it 1 star and give a crappy review. Enough people do that, and the app fades into obscurity. Crappy apps should be named and shamed this way.
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
It's a pain, but the average user needs to start actually paying attention to app permissions.
Except the "average user" literally CANNOT understand the permissions being asked for.
That's why an up-front model for permissions is inherently broken. If an app sneaks in location in the set of permissions an "average user" will never see it. If it asks them if the flashlight app can have their location when they run it, or access to contacts - there's few people that would agree to that.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
You people have no idea what you're loading onto your phones or what it's doing with your data and your life!
Why isn't there more comprehensive oversight of these apps before they're released to the public? Can't they require the source code be submitted to the 'app stores', and proofread to prevent this sort of thing from happening?
Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
When I read the access request for any Android app, I end up declining. SD card, network, contacts, and location access, for a kitchen timer? No thanks. That's why I have no apps on my phone and why I miss my Startac.
I'm looking for a feature phone to replace my smartphone now. There just are no apps I'm willing to install, plus I want physical buttons.
Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
And paid for the blow jobs too.
Just google it. You don't need to get from play store.
It is as clean as possible. Only does what it needs to do.
You are being MICROattacked, from various angles, in a SOFT manner.
1) Use DroidLight. It's by Motorola, but it works on non-motorola phones too. It requires no permissions.
2) We are in a sad state of affairs.
9 out of 10 flashlight apps in the Android store require unnecessary permissions. The Android store needs ONE flashlight app. Maybe 2. Unfortunately, idiots download apps that requires 100 permissions, then rank it a 5/5. This is such a trivial problem for Google to solve: one Google Play Store employee could ban 90% of those apps with a day of research and resolve the problem for the most part.
Even in the wild wild world of PC shareware, malware wasn't as bad as it is in the Google Play store.
Not just Google's.
The entire free app ecosystem depends on the sharing of information. If the information is fake the value of it goes down. Bye bye free app.
Somehow I don't have too much of a problem with sharing a bit of info in exchange for something useful.
What baffles me is why people would install an app named "Brightest Flashlight Free" (name sounds like a moron-magnet)
Because the open source ones aren't as bright. dur.
There is a way to "self censor" the app, which is to download it, mark it 1 star and give a crappy review. Enough people do that, and the app fades into obscurity.
Depending on how the store works, downloading to crappy rate it may just boost it's popularity, which gives it more visibility, not less.
At least, that's how it works on the Apple App Store (which I believe has popularity which uses downloads/time, and grossing which uses revenue/time). Not sure if Android's equivalents use that or just have lists that are just based of ranking alone.
Same reason your PC doesn't: developers and users have a natural conflict of interests, and developers have the control.
Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.
Google tends to keep the algorithm secret for apps showing as "top" but I'm pretty sure one of the things they look at is how quickly people uninstall. User retention is (supposedly) a heavily weighted metric.
PocketPermissions Android Permission Guide
"Brightest Flashlight Free" (name sounds like a moron-magnet)
That's why. My brother was building a website for a (legitimate) investment company, and the owner said to him, "it looks to good. Make it look more scammy." The owner said that because a scammy-looking website gets more customers.
The world is such a depressing place.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
The user should be able to set the "location" to an arbitrary city, and get a location fed to the app the equivalent to driving around in circles. Network access should be provided through a proxy, with all requests and responses scanned and filtered/blocked as the user sees fit. Contact list will get a blank or dummy sandbox contact list. Same with call history. If they build the app to not work in those situations but the user doesn't want to grant the permissions unlimitedly, then the app should fail. But all-or-nothing permissions where the app demands lots, or doesn't run, is a bad thing.
This is one case where Android is less user configurable than iOS.
Learn to love Alaska
What app do u make?(desperately seeking non-evil android apps)
Whenever I'm looking for an app of some kind, I check F-Droid first.
I remember sigs. Oh, a simpler time!
Cyanogenmod has this feature, it's called Privacy Guard. It states: "When Privacy Guard is enabled, the app will not be able to access personal data such as contacts, messages or call logs."
The answer is the user can't differentiate, unless we have access to the source code.
So here's an open source flashlight app you should be using:
MrWhite: https://fdroid.org/wiki/page/org.bc_bd.mrwhite
Or Torch: https://fdroid.org/wiki/page/com.colinmcdonough.android.torch
Install them by installing the F-Droid (FOSS for Android) package manager from Google Play.
I'm not a lawyer, but I play one on the Internet. Blog