There's speculation that the FBI may be using Carrier IQ's software based on a denied request for related documents.
There's speculation that the FBI may be using Carrier IQ's software based the bureau's refusal to supply information that may link back to the controversial "keylogger."
As reported by Forbes, Michael Morisy of Muckrock.com -- using the Freedom of Information Act has his foundation -- requested material from the FBI just after Trevor Eckhart's revealing video appeared on YouTube in November. The requested material included "manuals, documents or other written guidance used to access or analyze data gathered by programs developed or deployed by Carrier IQ."
But the FBI wouldn't cough up the goods, citing an exemption to the Freedom of Information law for scenarios in which forking over documents "could reasonably be expected to interfere with law enforcement proceedings." Based on that, speculation has taken flight, insinuating that the FBI may be using the software for law enforcement tracking. The bureau may also merely be investigating Carrier IQ itself thanks to a push by the Senate, or be in the process of using Carrier IQ in an investigation.
On Tuesday Carrier IQ responded to the FBI speculation, stating that it has "never provided any data to the FBI. If approached by a law enforcement agency, we would refer them to the network operators because the diagnostic data collected belongs to them and not Carrier IQ." The company also said that data is "not designed to address the special needs of law enforcement. The diagnostic data that we capture is mostly historical and won’t reveal where somebody is and what they are doing on a real-time basis."
Carrier IQ also released a 19-page document, "Understanding Carrier IQ Technology" (PDF), on Tuesday that attempts to explain what Carrier IQ does and does not do. The report outlines the benefits of using Carrier IQ for manufacturers and wireless carriers, the latter of which depend on the software's diagnostic data to make sure their networks are running optimally. The document also defends Carrier IQ against Trevor Eckhart's findings while also presenting a breakdown of its method of collecting data.
"What is actually gathered by a Network Operator is based on their business requirements and the agreements they form with their consumers on data collection," the document reads. "We cannot comment on all handset manufacturer implementations of Android. Our investigation of Trevor Eckhart's video indicates that location, key presses, SMS and other information appears in log files as a result of debug messages from pre-production handset manufacturer software. Specifically it appears that the handset manufacturer software's debug capabilities remained "switched on" in devices sold to consumers."
But Carrier IQ's report also admits to an SMS bug in the software that can inadvertently collect text message data. The bug only existed in embedded versions of the software, and was addressed with an updated version.
"Carrier IQ has discovered that, due to this bug, in some unique circumstances, such as a when a user receives an SMS during a call, or during a simultaneous data session, SMS messages may have unintentionally been included in the layer 3 signaling traffic that is collected by the IQ Agent," the company said. "These messages were encoded and embedded in layer 3 signaling traffic and are not human readable."
"No multimedia messages (MMS), email, web, applications, photos, voice or video (or any content using the IP protocol) has been captured," Carrier IQ adds.
The sarcasm is strong with this one...
Stop right there criminal scum! pay the court a fine or serve your sentence, Your stolen goods are now forfeited.
Stop right there criminal scum! pay the court a fine or serve your sentence, Your stolen goods are now forfeited.
The sarcasm is strong with this one...
lol Oblivion/Skyrim.
The "cell" in “cell phone” refers to the towers themselves, or more accurately the range of coverage for each tower. That is how the industry refers to them and in order to guarantee quality of service your provider needs to know what “cell” or “cells” your phone is closest to; so in that regard ALL CELL PHONES "smart" and "dumb" are tracked. Additionally all cell phones can be compromised allowing your devices microphone, camera, or GPS to be used by unauthorized persons without your knowledge. It has been proven that the contents of your entire phone including the text messages, emails, phone book, confidential log in information etc can be accessed with or without the phone being connected to any network, just like people used to steal phone numbers from highway overpasses when mobile phones first came out.
We have spent YEARS researching the problem.
The problem is REAL and so is the SOLUTION: The Case For Privacy – Because there is a case for privacy.
www.thecaseforprivacy.com
I got 99 problems, but Carrier IQ ain't one.
PS carrier IQ is not needed to get network related information from customers. Connected devices automatically report the details of the connection in order to negotiate the bit rate.
Details on speed and saturation of the network is all generated ISP side and there is no need to get it from the phone.
The most carrier IQ can do is probably help find dead zones by recording everywhere you go VIA GPS then reporting back home with the locations where a signal was not available.
(but that same thing can be extrapolated with ISP side data by mapping out the average signal strength of users at certain towers and also use them to triangulate the general locations of the users with the weak signals.
Eg if users between towers 4, 5, and 6 are having a week/ unreliable signal (really poor SNR), then they can send someone to properly examine the area and find a location for an additional cell tower.
How does the gaurd in winterhold know that I stole that potato from farmer joe over by whiterun?