There is a lot of uproar in the blogs and media about the recent Carrier IQ scandal. So what is this Carrier IQ is all about?
In simple terms Carrier IQ is a small application that sits on smartphones and keep monitoring all activities. It is capable of monitoring phone calls, GPS location and even keystrokes. Even keystrokes? Yes, even all those SMS you send, user name & password you enter on any website, credit card information you type on your mobile and everything else you do can be logged with this app. This is a piece of scary software that can log every activity on smartphone and the mother of all privacy invaders.
You may ask, why should I bother if there is a crappy app out there in the wild? Well this application is part of almost every smartphone sold in the market!! Yes if you are holding a smartphone most likely that it’s running CarrierIQ. It’s there on Androids, its there on iPhones and almost all smartphones available in the market.
This app is installed by smartphone vendors to track the behaviour of their customers in an anonymous way. The analytical information provided by Carrier IQ providers a truck load of customer behavioural information to vendors and they can use it to increase the sales.
If you are interested to learn more about Carrier IQ here are few insightful articles
- What Is Carrier IQ? by Gizmodo
- How to turn off Carrier IQ Tracking in your iPhone by Vijay
- RIM: No Carrier IQ on your BlackBerry by SlashGear
- Carrier IQ Tracking Scandal Spirals Out of Control by Mashable