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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. |
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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. |
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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.
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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.
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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. |
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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.
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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. |
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"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. But this flashlight app left them in the dark about how their
information was going to be used."
— Jessica
Rich, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection
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At the FTC’s request, a federal judge has temporarily stopped an
operation that bilked more than $14 million from small businesses and churches
for unwanted listings in online business directories. The FTC seeks to end the
illegal practices and make Mohamad Khaled Kaddoura, his associates and 15 companies
they ran return money to the victims. The scheme has generated more than 13,000
complaints to the FTC.
A default judgment against Business Recovery Services LLC and a
consent judgment against Brian Hessler, its owner, bans them from selling
recovery services. The FTC alleged that their operation bilked victims of
previous scams by falsely claiming it could help them recover money they lost.
A
federal court has ordered Matthew J. Loewen and his companies to pay
more than $5.1 million to people they allegedly duped into paying hundreds of
dollars to sell their cars. The defendants falsely claimed
to have buyers lined up for sellers’ cars, and that they would provide refunds
if the cars weren’t sold. The court also permanently banned the defendants
from telemarketing and payment processing.
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