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    Uploaded with comments by TrevorEckhart
    November 28, 2011

    Security researcher Trevor Eckhart exposes Carrier IQ, a “rootkit” that is embedded in many mobile phones to monitor button presses, screen taps, SMS traffic, GPS location and web browsing. Eckhart has decided to expose this creepy Big Brother software to the world.

    Feigning concern for privacy, some of cellphone companies offer software which allows Carrier IQ to be turned off, while other software simply violates that same pretense, as Eckhart exposes.

    This clip shows dataflow from his stock HTC Evo Android phone. Even when he’s entirely logged off the network, we see text messages and Google searches surreptitiously being retransmitted. This fully demonstrates the deception in Carrier IQ Inc.’s claims that the purpose of its software is only to understand where phone calls are dropped, where signal quality is poor, why applications crash and what affects battery life.

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    “Carrier IQ, IT Targeted by Federal Lawsuit After iPhone Mobile Data Violations”
    Examiner.com
    Mary Holman
    December 4, 2011

    Carrier IQ, based in nearby Mountain View, is one of 3 corporations hit by a federal lawsuit this week. Information released initially on YouTube, another media darling, has triggered an inquiry by a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, and a lawsuit reportedly filed in Delaware just this week. Apple has responded already with plans to scrub their iPhone products. Class action suits followed in Chicago, Illinois and elsewhere as users demanded answers.

    At issue are the corporation’s mobile phone software which logs user activity and runs in the background of mobile devices. After the YouTube report, authorities contacted the company seeking information to determine whether their software may violate federal privacy laws, according to a copy of the complaint filed by an attorney for the plaintiffs.

    AT&T and Sprint, the second- and third-largest U.S. wireless providers, issued statements on on Dec. 1 that the software data is used only to improve service performance. Apple has already stopped supporting Carrier IQ in most products and will remove it completely in a future software update, according to Natalie Harrison, an Apple spokeswoman.

    Carrier IT marketing staff issued denials of the reported violations: “They’re not going to see the contents. They’re not going to see what you type. They’re not going to see the contents of your SMS messages. They’re not going to see what’s on your screen.”

    Punitive Damages

    The customers who sued seek compensatory and punitive damages on behalf of all others whose devices contain the so- called rootkit software from Mountain View, California-based Carrier IQ, which is also named as a defendant in the suit. The software is currently installed on 150 million phones worldwide, according to the complaint.

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