An innocuous-looking torch app for Android that has been
downloaded more than 50m times silently shared users' locations and device IDs
with advertisers, the company has admitted.
In a settlement
with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the maker of
Brightest Flashlight Free admitted that the app's privacy policy
"deceptively failed to disclose" that it was passing on location and
device ID data to networks of advertisers.
The privacy policy said
that "any" information collected by the app would be used by the
company. But it didn't say that it would also send it to third parties.
Since its release in
February 2011, the app has been downloaded between 50m and 100m times,
according to data on the Google Play app store.
"When consumers are
given a real, informed choice, they can decide for themselves whether the
benefit of a service is worth the information they must share to use it,' said
Jessica Rich, director of the FTC's consumer protection bureau. "But this
flashlight left them in the dark about how their information was going to be
used."
The FTC also said that
the app gave users a false choice: "At the bottom of the license
agreement, consumers could click to 'Accept' or 'Refuse' the terms of the
agreement. Even before a consumer had a chance to accept those terms, though,
the application was already collecting and sending information to third parties
– including location and the unique device identifier."
That meant that
advertisers could in effect have tracked users through their device ID and
location to see what adverts they were clicking on - and even identified people
through related information.
Under the settlement, the
app will have to tell users how, where and when their data is about to be
shared, and get their express permission to do so.
The case is the first
where the FTC has zeroed in on unwanted sharing of geolocation data as part of
its requirement to protect US consumer privacy.
Android apps tell users
what information they will collect from users before they are installed - but
do not give any explanation of what or how the information will be used, or why
it is necessary to collect it. There is also no standard way to veto the collection
of data or access to a machine function by an app.
The Play Store app, which has generally
received good reviews - an average of 4.8 out of 5 - turns on all the lights on
the device to create a torch. It also says that it offers "unobtrusive
ads".
The developer,
GoldenShores Technologies, also offers another app for choosing colours, which
is also ad-supported. It has had far fewer downloads, totalling around 50,000.
The FTC didn't say whether it is investigating that app.
Erik Geidl, who runs
GoldenShores Technologies, has been ordered to delete any personal information
that the app has collected. He is also required to tell the FTC if he changes
his employment over the next ten years.
Source: TheGuardian
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