The creator of one of the most popular apps for Android mobile devices has agreed to settle FTC charges that the free app deceived people about how the company would share geolocation information. Goldenshores Technologies, LLC, managed by Erik M. Geidl, is the company behind the “Brightest Flashlight Free” app, which Android users have downloaded tens of millions of times. The FTC’s complaint alleges that the company deceived people by not disclosing in its privacy policy that the app transmitted users’ precise location and unique device identifier to third parties, including advertising networks.

Wise Media, its CEO, Brian M. Buckley, and Winston J. Deloney have settled FTC charges that they crammed more than $10 million in unauthorized charges on telephone bills. The FTC’s complaint alleged that Wise Media billed people for so-called “premium services” that sent text messages with information like horoscopes and flirting tips. The settlement includes a $10 million judgment that is partially suspended due to the defendants’ inability to pay. Buckley will be required to surrender nearly all his assets along with any remaining assets of Wise Media, valued in excess of $500,000.

The FTC has named Jan. 13-17, 2014, Tax Identity Theft Awareness Week. The Commission will host national and regional events designed to raise awareness about tax identity theft, and provide people with tips on how to protect themselves and what to do if they become victims. Tax identity theft accounted for more than 43 percent of the Commission’s identity theft complaints in 2012, nearly double the number received in 2011.

The FTC has announced a proposed settlement resolving allegations that a payment processor used unfair tactics to maintain scores of merchant accounts for Infusion Media Inc., which perpetrated the “Google Money Tree” work-at-home scheme. Using merchant accounts set up by Process America Inc. and its owners, Infusion Media placed more than $15 million in unauthorized charges on people’s debit and credit card accounts. Payment processors and Independent Sales Organizations (ISOs) enable merchants to charge consumers’ credit cards for products and services. In exchange, payment processors and ISOs get paid for each transaction the merchant processes.

The FTC will host a workshop about mobile device tracking on February 19, 2014, from 10 am to noon in Washington, DC. Businesses can track shoppers’ movements throughout retail stores and other attractions by identifying signals emitted by their mobile devices. Companies can determine whether a visitor is new, what paths they take, the length of time they spend in a location, and how often they visit. In most cases, this tracking is invisible to visitors, which raises questions about the privacy and security risks of these technologies.

According to the recently released National Do Not Call Registry Data Book, the National Do Not Call Registry contained more than 223 million actively registered phone numbers at the end of Fiscal Year 2013 – up from the 217 million numbers registered at the end of FY 2012. The Data Book also reveals that the highest number of monthly complaints – more than 370,000 – were submitted in October 2012. The number of monthly complaints related to “robocalls” ranged from nearly 147,000 per month to more than 234,000 per month.

The FTC is hosting a workshop about alternative scoring products on March 19 from 10 am to noon in Washington, DC. Companies use predictive scores for a variety of purposes, ranging from identity verification and fraud prevention to marketing and advertising. People are largely unaware of these scores, and have little to no access to the underlying data that make up the scores, raising potential privacy questions.