Sprint, amid controversy, plans to shut off Carrier IQ software

26 million number of phones Sprint had sold that used Carrier IQ’s software, the company revealed Thursday
zero number of phones that will have the feature enabled from here on out, the company said Friday source

» Killing a major headache: With public scrutiny going against them, Sprint, the largest user of Carrier IQ, has decided that the public relations cost was too much, according to a statement released Friday: “We have weighed customer concerns and we have disabled use of the tool so that diagnostic information and data is no longer being collected. At Sprint, we work hard to earn the trust of our customers and believe this course of action is in the best interest of our business and customers.” Really, though, the problem is that they enabled it in the first place.

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

We stopped supporting CarrierIQ with iOS 5 in most of our products and will remove it completely in a future software update. With any diagnostic data sent to Apple, customers must actively opt-in to share this information, and if they do, the data is sent in an anonymous and encrypted form and does not include any personal information. We never recorded keystrokes, messages or any other personal information for diagnostic data and have no plans to ever do so.
A statement from Apple • Discussing the quickly-becoming-a-big-deal Carrier IQ situation, in which an obscure diagnostic company allegedly had its data-tracking app on a millions of phones — without consumers knowing. At first, was unclear if the software was on Apple’s tightly-locked phones, but last night, it became clear that it was — although, unlike in the case of many Android phones, it wasn’t enabled by default and otherwise difficult to enable. And with the next iOS update, it’ll be gone entirely. Still, though. source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

They are really asking for the authority to redesign services that take advantage of the unique, and now pervasive, architecture of the Internet. They basically want to turn back the clock and make Internet services function the way that the telephone system used to function.
Center for Democracy and Technology vice president James X. Dempsey • Explaining why the Obama administration is suddenly making a push to add wiretapping functions to the entire Internet – functions which they haven’t had and draw controversy every single time they come up. Law enforcement agents argue that it’s necessary to make it easier to do their jobs. Wanna know our feeling? If Obama follows through with this, it has the possibility to negate much of the positive goodwill he has among the Left. You thought Bush’s wiretapping desires were bad? This is miles worse. source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

On reflection, I could have used a different approach to this investigation, particularly given the sensitivities that people understandably have about security in a federal building.
“Gonzo” conservative journalist James O’Keefe • Regarding that whole arrest thing that happened earlier this week. His claim? “The government has now confirmed what has always been clear: No one tried to wiretap or bug Senator Landrieu’s office.” Who said this? Who? Anyway, O’Keefe and his three cohorts could face up to ten years in prison for maliciously interfering with a telephone system operated and controlled by the U.S. government. They claim they were just trying to shoot funny, embarrassing videos. Sure. source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Dec 2011 10:14