Flashlight App is Spying on you! Cyber security report here!

[TheNutcracker]

Sorry if this is a dupe or I double posted....

[uhnope]

1. is that FOX?

[TheNutcracker]

3. Don't know, but the voice interview is compelling, and here is another source, as there are many.

http://scam-detector.com/online-auction-scams/flashlight-spying-mobile-app

[uhnope]

4. then delete it and find a responsible news source, not FOX

[markpkessinger]

9. Who died and appointed you arbiter of what can and cannot be posted here? n/t

[TheNutcracker]

2. Kick!!!!!! To every front page!

[zebonaut]

5. which specific flashlight app, which specific platform?

[markpkessinger]

8. It says the top 10 flashlight apps available on the Google Play store . . .

. . . which would indicate an Android platform.

[Mister Ed]

6. Most apps do this, and they're really pretty up-front about it. And scarcely anyone cares!

Some years ago, our good Senator Franken got a law enacted that required apps to feature a declaration of the security intrusions they perform. App vendors complied, started featuring the notices in plain English, and...no one cared!

When I shopped for a flashlight app, I found that most of the apps available had notices stating plainly that by installing, you were agreeing to have your GPS location uploaded to their database at all times, that they could use your built-in camera to take pictures and upload them, that they could upload really anything and everything on your phone. The statements were not hidden away in endless pages of fine print. They were plain, clear, and legible.

I shopped until I found a flashlight app called Tesla LED that didn't feature a statement like this, and I was happy to pay two bucks for it.

When I tell my friends that many of their apps are doing this, they just yawn and shrug.

[KoKo]

7. I Posted a Question about it here on DU... as I was skeptical about it. Here:

(This is my post and the replies. BTW I have yet to install it...if anyone else does..good luck to them and hopefully they will get the "bugs out of the system" before I bother with it.)

Anyone Installed Firefox/Mozilla's New Ap: "Light Beam" helping track for Your Security?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026150041

[Crowman1979]

10. Never understood the concept of apps, let alone pay for one.

Are people too lazy just to head for the store and buy a little LED keychain flashlight, or a freakin' Mini Maglight. I own a Mini Maglight, and the damn thing has lasted almost 15 years now, which is the equivalent of 3-5 smartphones.

[WheelWalker]

11. Appears to be Faux "make news" to me... Snopes is our friend...

http://www.snopes.com/computer/internet/flashlight.asp