Software with barely access - restricted installed on millions of phones in the United States. An invasion of privacy or simply support tools?
Is the most popular cell phones in the U.S. track and make practical Mstmshihm this information to the wireless carriers? Answer to this question is "approximately", and questions that led to her stand at the forefront of a new affair concerning online privacy issues. Only this time the network in question is a networknot the Internet.
The story started when security researcher named Trevor Eckhart began examining the company's vessels Carrier IQ, which is installed on millions of phones around the world. It comes to Android devices from companies like Samsung and HTC, as well as iPhones that have not been upgraded to version iOS 5 of their operating system. And Eckhart discovered this tool "watch" for everything that happens on a cell phone, including tracking clicks on the keyboard and content of SMS messages.
On iOS 5 has been no
At Carrier IQ choose, at the beginning of the affair, to threaten. Eckhart company sent threatening letters demanding action to stop YouTube video showing the software activities and present it as such a spy for users. At the same time, many phone manufacturers have begun to shake off the story - Nokia version of the software is never installed on the instruments, and dark Although late to the party but also the end of the day she took notice that most of the instruments withdrawn their support in CIQ after updating to iOS 5.
At the same time, American law enforcement agencies began to wake up. Senator Al Franken called on to investigate the events, and a former senior U.S. Justice Department estimated that Paul Um, if true, it is illegal listening to a huge scale. Should make it clear that users do not get any information about Carrier IQ software, it is very difficult to remove it and there is no way to ask it is not installed on the device.
Much Ado, but for what?
Have to worry about?
The important question is what Carrier IQ, in fact, and whether you also have to worry about. We'll start that if you're not in the U.S., the answer is probably "no." And the reason is that CIQ is software installed on network request. Testing the tools of local cellular companies shows that they do not use the software.
But why the American cellular companies - Sprint and AT & T among others, following the Mstmshihn? VP Marketing at Carrier IQ, Andrew Coward, Wall Street Journal explained that they did not. The purpose of the software in question is not to follow, that if the device's leap to solving problems of the phone or the network. Coward argues that the software "listens "press this key to find a special sequence that would make her send a failure report. For example, service representatives can ask the user to enter code and then see what the problem with the device and should get it repaired.
According to Coward, what Trevor Eckhardt demonstrates that the program can access a lot of information.However, Eckhart does not show the software analyzes or passes the information, and the reason is the software just does not do it. And who determines how long the information Tagor software on the device is the cellular company.
