With claims and counterclaims flying as to whether the Carrier IQ rootkit found in over 140 million phones is actually spying on your personal information, the key question remains unanswered: whether the software is capable of capturing personal data, sending it without your knowledge or permission, and storing it in a way that it can be traced back to you. Carrier IQ statements to date have passed the buck - stating that the information captured and stored is determined by the carriers.
Meanwhile, here are the latest developments:
- AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile have been confirmed as using the Carrier IQ software.
- Verizon Wireless has stated that they do not use it, and it is not on their phones.
- A limited version of the software has been found on the IPhone - older versions in particular. They plan to remove the final traces from IOS 5 in a forthcoming update.
- Windows Phones, Blackberry phones, the Nexus line of phones and most custom Android ROMs do not contain Carrier IQ.
- Senator Franken of the Sentate Subcommitee on Privacy, Technology and the Law has sent a letter to Carrier IQ requesting specific information. It is worth reading, as it lists the key questions that have been unanswered to date.
- Congressman Markey of the Congressional Bi-Partisan Privacy Caucus has sent a similar letter requesting that the Federal Trade Commission investigate the situation.
- While Trevor Eckhart's work clearly demonstrates the ability of Carrier IQ software to capture personal data from your phone, it does not answer the question as to what data is actually being stored or transmitted by the application, and what happens to data that is stored or transmitted by the application.
- The first class action lawsuits against Carrier IQ, HTC and Samsung have been filed.
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