[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 238 (Wednesday, December 11, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75350-75352]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-29531]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

[File No. 132 3087]


Goldenshores Technologies, LLC and Erik M. Geidl; Analysis of 
Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION: Proposed consent agreement.

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SUMMARY: The consent agreement in this matter settles alleged 
violations of federal law prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or 
practices or unfair methods of competition. The attached Analysis to 
Aid Public Comment describes both the allegations in the draft 
complaint and the terms of the consent order--embodied in the consent 
agreement--that would settle these allegations.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before January 6, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/goldenshorestechnologiesconsent online 
or on paper, by following the instructions in the Request for Comment 
part of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write 
``Goldenshores, File No. 132 3087'' on your comment and file your 
comment online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/goldenshorestechnologiesconsent by following the instructions on the 
web-based form. If you prefer to file your comment on paper, mail or 
deliver your comment to the following address: Federal Trade 
Commission, Office of the Secretary, Room H-113 (Annex D), 600 
Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20580.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kerry O'Brien (415-848-5189), FTC, 
Western Region, San Francisco, 600

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Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20580.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to Section 6(f) of the Federal 
Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 2.34, 16 CFR 2.34, 
notice is hereby given that the above-captioned consent agreement 
containing a consent order to cease and desist, having been filed with 
and accepted, subject to final approval, by the Commission, has been 
placed on the public record for a period of thirty (30) days. The 
following Analysis to Aid Public Comment describes the terms of the 
consent agreement, and the allegations in the complaint. An electronic 
copy of the full text of the consent agreement package can be obtained 
from the FTC Home Page (for December 5, 2013), on the World Wide Web, 
at http://www.ftc.gov/os/actions.shtm. A paper copy can be obtained 
from the FTC Public Reference Room, Room 130-H, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue 
NW., Washington, DC 20580, either in person or by calling (202) 326-
2222.
    You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to 
consider your comment, we must receive it on or before January 6, 2014. 
Write ``Goldenshores, File No. 132 3087'' on your comment. Your 
comment--including your name and your state--will be placed on the 
public record of this proceeding, including, to the extent practicable, 
on the public Commission Web site, at http://www.ftc.gov/os/publiccomments.shtm. As a matter of discretion, the Commission tries to 
remove individuals' home contact information from comments before 
placing them on the Commission Web site.
    Because your comment will be made public, you are solely 
responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any 
sensitive personal information, like anyone's Social Security number, 
date of birth, driver's license number or other state identification 
number or foreign country equivalent, passport number, financial 
account number, or credit or debit card number. You are also solely 
responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any 
sensitive health information, like medical records or other 
individually identifiable health information. In addition, do not 
include any ``[t]rade secret or any commercial or financial information 
which . . . is privileged or confidential,'' as discussed in Section 
6(f) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 4.10(a)(2), 16 CFR 
4.10(a)(2). In particular, do not include competitively sensitive 
information such as costs, sales statistics, inventories, formulas, 
patterns, devices, manufacturing processes, or customer names.
    If you want the Commission to give your comment confidential 
treatment, you must file it in paper form, with a request for 
confidential treatment, and you have to follow the procedure explained 
in FTC Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).\1\ Your comment will be kept 
confidential only if the FTC General Counsel, in his or her sole 
discretion, grants your request in accordance with the law and the 
public interest.
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    \1\ In particular, the written request for confidential 
treatment that accompanies the comment must include the factual and 
legal basis for the request, and must identify the specific portions 
of the comment to be withheld from the public record. See FTC Rule 
4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).
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    Postal mail addressed to the Commission is subject to delay due to 
heightened security screening. As a result, we encourage you to submit 
your comments online. To make sure that the Commission considers your 
online comment, you must file it at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/goldenshorestechnologiesconsent by following the instructions on 
the web-based form. If this Notice appears at http://www.regulations.gov/#!home, you also may file a comment through that 
Web site.
    If you file your comment on paper, write ``Goldenshores, File No. 
132 3087'' on your comment and on the envelope, and mail or deliver it 
to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the 
Secretary, Room H-113 (Annex D), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., 
Washington, DC 20580. If possible, submit your paper comment to the 
Commission by courier or overnight service.
    Visit the Commission Web site at http://www.ftc.gov to read this 
Notice and the news release describing it. The FTC Act and other laws 
that the Commission administers permit the collection of public 
comments to consider and use in this proceeding as appropriate. The 
Commission will consider all timely and responsive public comments that 
it receives on or before January 6, 2014. You can find more 
information, including routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, in 
the Commission's privacy policy, at http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/privacy.htm.

Analysis of Agreement Containing Consent Order To Aid Public Comment

    The Federal Trade Commission (``FTC'' or ``Commission'') has 
accepted, subject to final approval, an agreement containing consent 
order from Goldenshores Technologies, LLC, and Erik M. Geidl 
(``respondents'').
    The proposed consent order has been placed on the public record for 
thirty (30) days for receipt of comments by interested persons. 
Comments received during this period will become part of the public 
record. After thirty (30) days, the Commission will again review the 
agreement and the comments received, and decide whether it should 
withdraw from the agreement or make the proposed order final.
    Since at least February 2011, respondents have marketed a mobile 
application called the ``Brightest Flashlight Free'' mobile application 
(``Brightest Flashlight App'') to consumers for use on their Android 
mobile devices. The Brightest Flashlight App purportedly works by 
activating all lights on a mobile device, including, where available, 
the device's LED camera flash and screen to provide outward-facing 
illumination. As of May 2013, users have downloaded the Brightest 
Flashlight App tens of millions of times.
    The Commission's complaint alleges two violations of Section 5(a) 
of the FTC Act, which prohibits deceptive and unfair acts or practices 
in or affecting commerce, by respondents. First, according to the 
complaint, respondents represent in the Brightest Flashlight App's 
privacy policy statement and end-user license agreement (``EULA'') that 
respondents may periodically collect, maintain, process, and use 
information from users' mobile devices to provide software updates, 
product support, and other services to users related to the Brightest 
Flashlight App, and to verify users' compliance with respondents' EULA. 
The complaint alleges that this claim is deceptive because respondents 
fail to disclose, or adequately disclose, that, when users run the 
Brightest Flashlight App, the application transmits, or allows the 
transmission of, their devices' precise geolocation along with 
persistent device identifiers to various third parties, including third 
party advertising networks.
    Second, the complaint alleges that respondents falsely represent in 
the Brightest Flashlight EULA that consumers have the option to refuse 
the terms of the Brightest Flashlight EULA, including those relating to 
the collection and use of device data, and thereby prevent the 
Brightest Flashlight App from ever collecting or using their device's 
data. In fact, regardless of whether consumers accept or refuse the 
terms of the EULA, the Brightest Flashlight App transmits, or causes 
the transmission of, device data as soon as the consumer launches the 
application and before they have chosen to accept

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or refuse the terms of the Brightest Flashlight EULA.
    The proposed consent order contains provisions designed to prevent 
respondents from engaging in similar acts or practices in the future. 
Specifically, Part I prohibits respondent from misrepresenting (1) the 
extent to which ``covered information'' is collected, used, disclosed, 
or shared and (2) the extent to which users may exercise control over 
the collection, use, disclosure, or sharing of ``covered information'' 
collected from or about them, their computers or devices, or their 
online activities. ``Covered information'' is defined as ``(a) a first 
and last name; (b) a home or other physical address, including street 
name and name of city or town; (c) an email address or other online 
contact information, such as an instant messaging user identifier or a 
screen name; (d) a telephone number; (e) a Social Security number; (f) 
a driver's license or other state-issued identification number; (g) a 
financial institution account number; (h) credit or debit card 
information; (i) a persistent identifier, such as a customer number 
held in a ``cookie,'' a static Internet Protocol (``IP'') address, a 
mobile device ID, or processor serial number; (j) precise geolocation 
data of an individual or mobile device, including but not limited to 
GPS-based, WiFi-based, or cell-based location information 
(``geolocation information''); (k) an authentication credential, such 
as a username and password; or (l) any other communications or content 
stored on a consumer's mobile device.''
    Part II requires respondents to give users of their mobile 
applications a clear and prominent notice and to obtain express 
affirmative consent prior to collecting their geolocation information. 
Part III requires respondents to delete any ``covered information'' in 
their possession, custody, or control that they collected from users of 
the Brightest Flashlight App prior to the entry of the order.
    Parts IV, V, VI, VII, and VIII of the proposed order require 
respondent to keep copies of relevant advertisements and materials 
substantiating claims made in the advertisements; to provide copies of 
the order to its personnel; to notify the Commission of changes in 
corporate structure that might affect compliance obligations under the 
order; and to file compliance reports with the Commission. Part IX 
provides that the order will terminate after twenty (20) years, with 
certain exceptions.
    The purpose of this analysis is to facilitate public comment on the 
proposed order. It is not intended to constitute an official 
interpretation of the complaint or the proposed order, or to modify the 
proposed order's terms in any way.

    By direction of the Commission.
Donald S. Clark,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2013-29531 Filed 12-10-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P