The fallout following the discovery of Carrier IQ’s monitoring software on millions of smartphones continues to build. European privacy officials are investigating, the company said it has not violated wiretap laws, three class-action lawsuits have been filed, and a U.S. senator wants answers.
Connecticut-based security researcher Trevor Eckhart recently posted a video showing that software from Carrier IQ, pre-installed on as many as 141 million Android, BlackBerry, and Nokia smartphones, sends text messages, searches, and other user actions to the carrier without the user’s knowledge or consent. Eckhart said that “every button you press in the dialer” is sent even before a call is made, and even when the owner is using Wi-Fi and not the carrier’s network.
‘Deeply Troubling’
In the furor that has erupted, some observers have suggested that federal wiretap laws may have been violated. But Mountain View, Calif.-based Carrier IQ has denied this.
In a statement on its Web site, the company said that, while there is a “great deal of information available to the Carrier IQ software inside the handset, our software does not record, store or transmit the content of SMS messages, e-mail, photographs, audio or video.” As an example, the company said that its software knows that a SMS was sent accurately, but it does not record or transmit its content.
Similarly, the company said its software knows which apps are draining the battery, but screenshots are not captured. The company has also denied that every keystroke is being collected. AT&T and Sprint Nextel issued statements Thursday that the software is used to improve service.
But some governmental officials want more information. Privacy regulators in Germany, the U.K., France, Ireland and Italy have reportedly been looking into the use of Carrier IQ by smartphones and carriers in those countries.
In the U.S., Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., has asked…
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