Sprint Has Disabled Carrier IQ on Handsets
Sprint is reportedly removing Carrier IQ's software from its entire library of mobile products.
Wireless carrier Sprint has reportedly instructed hardware partners to disable the highly-controversial Carrier IQ software from Sprint devices as soon as possible.
The news arrives via unnamed sources at HTC which claim that the move is a direct result of the current lawsuits targeting Carrier IQ, Sprint and other OEMs using the Carrier IQ software. According to the source, Sprint wants to remove Carrier IQ from its high-volume and high-profile devices first, and has asked the manufacturers to quickly release Carrier IQ-free binaries so that over-the-air updates can be made immediately. After that, Sprint wants to clean the remainder of its product line.
To make the Carrier IQ software removal sound auspiciously even more urgent, the HTC source claims that anyone working with Sprint in the testing labs will see their holiday vacation time "seriously restricted." The company has also made it clear that the change needs to happen ASAP, but so far hasn't provided an actual rollout plan for the updates. Sounds like someone is in a real hurry.
"We have weighed customer concerns and we have disabled use of the tool so that diagnostic information and data is no longer being collected," the company said in a statement. "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."
On Thursday Sprint replied to U.S. Sen. Al Franken's (D-Minn.) request for information in a response letter (pdf), admitting that Carrier IQ's software is installed on approximately 26 million handsets. Even more, it had been using the software since 2006, but only to collect network and device-related information for quality of service-related purposes.
"The Carrier IQ software tool does not collect any information unless it is 'tasked' to do so by Sprint," the company said. "At any one time, only 1.3 million devices may be tasked to collect and report data. In fact, for any particular research request, a subset of a much smaller number of devices, approximately 30,000, are queried to respond to a research request from Sprint personnel."
"To be clear, Sprint has not used Carrier IQ diagnostics to profile customers, to serve targeted advertising, or for any purpose not specifically related to certifying that a device is able to operate on our network," the company added in a statement following the letter. "Sprint does not look at the content of customer messages, emails, photos, videos, keystrokes, etc. using the diagnostic tools offered by Carrier IQ."
On Friday afternoon, Geek.com reported that the EL13 Firmware Update for the Samsung Galaxy S2 Epic 4G Touch was leaked to the XDA Developers Forum, and showed no signs of the Carrier IQ software.
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Very nice. I wonder if Sprint is doing this as the underdog, plus I hope that the Sprint-owned carriers do this as well.
Regardless of this, I hope other carriers will follow suit.
This is the kind of PR stunt I can agree with...good job sprint...wow...did I just say that???
..now where's the 4G service you promised me 2 years ago
Sounds like damage control to me. Trying to avoid some class-action suit.
Truth is, nobody will be able to tell what data have CIQ/carriers collected over time and what was it used for. CIQ claims they never got any of that, it's all carrier's. Carriers say they never got any identifiable data from the infected phones (yes, infected).
Does anyone trust any of these thugs?
Didn't think so.
Oh, darn..... I was hoping to cash in my frivolous lawsuit token tomorrow too............
Oh well... I'll find something else, hey does anyone know any companies that don't put "caution hot" on their coffee cups? I need a couple million to feed the coffers and my new Radeon HD 7k rig too =D
They may have disabled it, but the hidden software is still in the phone. How can we get rid of this application? What Sprint claims about their use of Carrier IQ is of course something to be determined by independent sources and not by Sprint or any phone service provider.
In other words, it had Carrier IQ and was using it in ways you can't imagine.
"We've actually replaced it with far more draconian software known only as 'Big Brother''(another fine product by Carrier IQ Inc.), since Carrier IQ has developed such a bad reputation with consumers"
-Sprint
After reading all there customers personal texts, Sprint has come to the conclusion that there customers don't want to be spied on.
After reading all there customers personal texts, Sprint has come to the conclusion that there customers don't want to be spied on.
Probably at the bottom of all texts or email, this was attached 'sprint i will sue you if you can read this' or something like that.
They may have disabled it, but the hidden software is still in the phone. How can we get rid of this application? What Sprint claims about their use of Carrier IQ is of course something to be determined by independent sources and not by Sprint or any phone service provider.
There are 2 ways to get rid of it: wait for an official OTA update from Sprint that does not contain this rootkit, or root your phone and install a clean ROM yourself. The article implies that there is an official update in the works.
If you could dig deep enough you would find that Carrier IQ is owned by the FEDS
"We would never be so foolish! We outsource those activities to a third party, of course, who then sells the resulting information to the highest bidder. We accept a 10% commission from these third parties in return."
There. I finished that quote for Sprint.