A.G. HOLDER'S REMARKS AFTER MEETING WITH EU OFFICIALS REGARDING FOREIGN TERRORIST FIGHTERS AND COOPERATION

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 
Remarks by Attorney General Holder at the Media Availability Following Meeting with European Union Officials About Foreign Terrorist Fighters and Other Areas of Mutual Concern
Washington, DCUnited States ~ Thursday, November 13, 2014

Thank you all for being here.  It has been a pleasure to welcome so many of my colleagues and counterparts to Washington, D.C., for this week’s important ministerial meeting.

Over the past two days, we have discussed the considerable work that’s currently enabling the U.S. and the EU to coordinate on common threats – in addition to the steps that we can, and must, take together in the days ahead.

In the last year alone, our nations have taken tough, coordinated action against cyber criminals, online child pornographers, and transnational organized crime.  We had the privilege of hearing today from some of our lead prosecutors on the Game Over Zeus cyber investigation and the action against Tor dark markets, including the second edition of the Silk Road website, that have taken place over the past few days.  Both, of course, involved U.S. authorities and multiple EU member states.

And we also have heard how we have worked together against traditional organized crime groups, including ’Ndranghta – where our coordinated work with Italy led to 25 arrests in New York and Calabria earlier this year.

Importantly, we also discussed a number of steps that the U.S. – and the EU and its member states – can take together to address the issue of foreign terrorist fighters, including through information sharing, investigations and prosecutions, and countering violent extremism.

One important area, we agreed, was developing the capabilities of our partner governments to deal with foreign terrorist fighters.

The Department of Justice is part of a U.S. Government-wide effort in this regard.

I can announce today that, with the support of the State Department’s Bureau of Counterterrorism, the Department of Justice has detailed federal prosecutors and senior law enforcement advisors to reside in key regions – including the Balkans, the Middle East and North Africa – to work with countries seeking to increase their capacity to investigate and prosecute foreign terrorist fighters.

The Department of Justice has advisors residing in four Balkans countries.  And we will soon be placing a regional counterterrorism advisor in the area.

Justice Department prosecutors have also been placed in ten countries in the Middle East and North Africa.  These personnel will provide critical assistance to our allies in order to help prosecute those who return from the Syrian region bent on committing acts of terrorism.

Our counterterrorism prosecutors here in the U.S. also travel to other countries to collaborate with their counterparts.

And we have assigned a U.S. prosecutor as the Interim Director of the International Institute for Justice and the Rule of Law, or IIJ – located in Malta – which provides a forum to discuss the Foreign Terrorist Fighter problem and work with international partners to arrive at solutions.

The Justice Department provides vital expertise and support to the IIJ, in partnership with the State Department’s Bureau of Counterterrorism, and in collaboration with the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate.

Finally, we are working with other partners, including the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, to help build the capacity of partners world-wide to engage in mutual legal assistance on cases involving terrorism and transnational crime.

Our goal in all these efforts is to build the capacity to fight Foreign Terrorist Fighters within the rule of law – so we can stop the flow of fighters into conflict regions, stem the tide of violence, and aggressively combat violent extremism.

As our discussions have shown, in all of these areas, we can succeed only as partners.  And I am happy to have partners such as these on both sides of the Atlantic.

I appreciate this chance to join so many invaluable colleagues and counterparts here in Washington, as we keep advancing these critical discussions – and building on the great work that’s underway.  And I look forward to all that our nations must – and surely will – achieve together in the months and years ahead.

Thank you.

APP DEVELOPER CHARGED BY FTC WITH DECEIVING CONSUMERS REGARDING SHARING OF INFO

FROM:  FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION 
Android Flashlight App Developer Settles FTC Charges It Deceived Consumers

'Brightest Flashlight' App Shared Users' Location, Device ID Without Consumers' Knowledge.

The creator of one of the most popular apps for Android mobile devices has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that the free app, which allows a device to be used as a flashlight, deceived consumers about how their geolocation information would be shared with advertising networks and other third parties.

Goldenshores Technologies, LLC, managed by Erik M. Geidl, is the company behind the “Brightest Flashlight Free” app, which has been downloaded tens of millions of times by users of the Android operating system. The FTC’s complaint alleges that the company’s privacy policy deceptively failed to disclose that the app transmitted users’ precise location and unique device identifier to third parties, including advertising networks. In addition, the complaint alleges that the company deceived consumers by presenting them with an option to not share their information, even though it was shared automatically rendering the option meaningless.

“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 Bureau of Consumer Protection. “But this flashlight app left them in the dark about how their information was going to be used.”

In its complaint, the FTC alleges that Goldenshores’ privacy policy told consumers that any information collected by the Brightest Flashlight app would be used by the company, and listed some categories of information that it might collect. The policy, however, did not mention that the information would also be sent to third parties, such as advertising networks.

Consumers also were presented with a false choice when they downloaded the app, according to the complaint. Upon first opening the app, they were shown the company’s End User License Agreement, which included information on data collection. 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.

The settlement with the FTC prohibits the defendants from misrepresenting how consumers’ information is collected and shared and how much control consumers have over the way their information is used. The settlement also requires the defendants to provide a just-in-time disclosure that fully informs consumers when, how, and why their geolocation information is being collected, used and shared, and requires defendants to obtain consumers’ affirmative express consent before doing so.

The defendants also will be required to delete any personal information collected from consumers through the Brightest Flashlight app.

The Commission vote to accept the consent agreement package containing the proposed consent order for public comment was 4-0.

The FTC will publish a description of the consent agreement package in the Federal Register shortly. The agreement will be subject to public comment for 30 days, beginning today and continuing through Jan. 6, 2014, after which the Commission will decide whether to make the proposed consent order final. Interested parties can submit written comments electronically or in paper form by following the instructions in the “Invitation To Comment” part of the “Supplementary Information” section. Comments can be submitted electronically via the Commission’s comment submission page. Comments in paper form should be mailed or delivered to: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Room H-113 (Annex D), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20580. The FTC is requesting that any comment filed in paper form near the end of the public comment period be sent by courier or overnight service, if possible, because U.S. postal mail in the Washington area and at the Commission is subject to delay due to heightened security precautions.

NOTE: The Commission issues an administrative complaint when it has “reason to believe” that the law has been or is being violated, and it appears to the Commission that a proceeding is in the public interest. When the Commission issues a consent order on a final basis, it carries the force of law with respect to future actions. Each violation of such an order may result in a civil penalty of up to $16,000.