Carrier IQ On iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Phone: Which Devices Have Controversial 'Tracking' Software?

You might have heard about Carrier IQ, software that comes pre-installed on millions of smartphones that has the capability to record and store your keystrokes, the text messages you send and receive, the Internet websites you visit and more. If you own a smartphone -- a BlackBerry, an iPhone, an Android, a Windows Phone, whatever -- you are probably wondering whether or not Carrier IQ is on your smartphone, and if it is, how you can remove it.

Here is a rundown of everything we know about Carrier IQ, OS by OS. For a full background on Carrier IQ, what it does and why it has so many people nervous, read my colleague Gerry Smith's thorough piece from earlier.

ANDROID

The furor over Carrier IQ started with the discovery of the nosy software on Android smartphones and is only getting noisier (Senator Al Franken recently asked Carrier IQ for an explanation of its practices).

Unless you have a rooted Android device, you won't be able to see if your phone is running Carrier IQ. But here's what we know:

- No Nexus smartphones (the Google Nexus One, the Nexus S and the Galaxy Nexus) have Carrier IQ software, according to a source who spoke with The Verge. That source also claimed that no Motorola Xoom tablets have Carrier IQ.
- Verizon, the largest mobile carrier in the United States, told GigaOM in an email that it did not install Carrier IQ on any of its smartphones.
- Sprint has issued a statement to The Verge. They do use Carrier IQ -- from their statement:

Carrier IQ provides information that allows Sprint, and other carriers that use it, to analyze our network performance and identify where we should be improving service. We also use the data to understand device performance so we can figure out when issues are occurring. We collect enough information to understand the customer experience with devices on our network and how to address any connection problems, but we do not and cannot look at the contents of messages, photos, videos, etc., using this tool. The information collected is not sold and we don't provide a direct feed of this data to anyone outside of Sprint.

- AT&T and T-Mobile have not yet issued statements.
- The Kindle Fire tested negative for Carrier IQ, per Gizmodo.
- On Android phones, developer Trevor Eckhart has written an app that can detect and possibly remove Carrier IQ; however, your Android phone has to be "rooted," a step that the non-tech-savvy probably should not take. Better to wait for Carrier IQ and the carriers to resolve this mess than to risk bricking your phone, voiding the warranty or opening yourself up to malware.

WINDOWS PHONE

- 9to5Mac reports that Windows Phone appears to be totally free of Carrier IQ.

BLACKBERRY

Research in Motion told Business Insider that its phones do not have Carrier IQ preinstalled, nor does it authorize its carriers to do so. This does not mean, however, that carriers have not installed Carrier IQ without authorization.

The full statement:

RIM is aware of a recent claim by a security researcher that an application called “CarrierIQ” is installed on mobile devices from multiple vendors without the knowledge or consent of the device users. RIM does not pre-install the CarrierIQ app on BlackBerry smartphones or authorize its carrier partners to install the CarrierIQ app before sales or distribution. RIM also did not develop or commission the development of the CarrierIQ application, and has no involvement in the testing, promotion, or distribution of the app. RIM will continue to investigate reports and speculation related to CarrierIQ.

IPHONE

Noted iOS hacker chpwn found traces of Carrier IQ in iPhones running iOS 3.1.1 and up -- all the way up to iOS 5. However, it appears that the verison of Carrier IQ installed was tracking much less information than it was on Android phones.

From chpwn's blog:

Carrier IQ, the now infamous “rootkit” or “keylogger”, is not just for Android, Symbian, BlackBerry, and even webOS. In fact, up through and including iOS 5, Apple has included a copy of Carrier IQ on the iPhone. However, it does appears to be disabled along with diagnostics enabled on iOS 5; older versions may send back information in more cases. Because of that, if you want to disable Carrier IQ on your iOS 5 device, turning off “Diagnostics and Usage” in Settings appears to be enough.

chpwn continues thus, adding more reassurances for concerned iDevice users:

I am reasonably sure [Carrier IQ on the iPhone] has no access to typed text, web history, passwords, browsing history, or text messages, and as such is not sending any of this data remotely.

Still worried? To disable Carrier IQ on the iPhone:

1. Go into Settings.
2. Go into General.
3. Go into About.
4. Go into Diagnostics and Usage.
5. Click "Don't Send." On the chance that your iPhone does indeed have Carrier IQ installed, the information it is gathering will no longer be sent to Apple.

UPDATE: Apple has issued this statement to AllThingsD:

“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.”

-----

So, there you have it. Gizmodo has a list of smartphones, manufacturers and carriers that do not have Carrier IQ installed that it is constantly refreshing, and we'll keep updating you with the latest on the Carrier IQ saga as it developers. Until then, we'll be awaiting new statements from mobile carriers, handset makers and Carrier IQ itself on what the plans are to correct what seems like an invasion of privacy.

(Read on to see official statements on this controversy from Carrier IQ, as well as from Apple, Google, Verizon, AT&T, Microsoft and others.)

Check out our slideshow (below) to see the 13 smartphones that were rated most vulnerable to hackers and malware in 2011.

Loading Slideshow

• #13 - Apple iPhone 4 (And Older Models)

• #12 - HTC Evo 4G

• #11 - Morotola Droid 2

• #10 - LG Optimus One

• #9 - Motorola Droid X

• #8 - Samsung Galaxy S

• #7 - LG Optimus S

• #6 - Samsung Epic 4G

• #5 - HTC Wildfire

• #4 - Sanyo Zio

• #3 - Sony Ericsson Xperia X10

• #2 - HTC Desire

• #1 - Samsung Galaxy Mini

• RELATED VIDEO

Comments

[Steven Wandel]

01:24 PM on 12/07/2011

US Cellular released that they have never used Carrier IQ.

[Klein bottle]

03:50 PM on 12/05/2011

Anybody else remember when there was one phone in the house, hanging on the wall in the hallway? It could not be lost, run out of batteries, never needed an upgrade, never broke, needed no instructions and was not named after a piece of fruit?

[Valeriy Pruxa]

06:13 AM on 12/05/2011

Hmm very interesting

[Elitist Not]

09:01 PM on 12/04/2011

It is funny really, because I know a lot of companies do tracking on company cars/trucks, company cell phones, company computers. Then a lot of parents do tracking on their kids. Then a lot of people track their spouses and boy/girlfriends. A lot of people have OnStar/LoJack. And so on and so on. Personally I track nothing... I use no tracking technology on my stuff or my friends or family or cars or whatever. But I see these people that do getting really upset about being tracked. LOL! Do on others as you would have them do on to you I suppose. But, yeah Carrier IQ is bad and should not be going on.

[Klein bottle]

03:45 PM on 12/05/2011

I have enough trouble tracking where I am at any given time - I do not have enough "bandwidth" to be tracking kids, spouse, friends, employees and so forth. I do usually know where my car, keys, wallet and dog are.

[Elitist Not]

08:41 PM on 12/04/2011

AT&T Samsung Infuse 4g is Carrier IQ free.

[rottnkid]

10:08 AM on 12/03/2011

Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Linkedin, Reddit, Huffington Post, ESPN, Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, etc...,

And people are concerned about Carrier IQ?

lol

[ChristianEcon.com]

09:01 AM on 12/03/2011

I checked my iPhone and "Don't Send" was checked already by default. It also appears to list and display the files it's keeping, so you can read them yourself. All mine were battery usage data, etc., except one from Facebook....

[bimplebean]

04:49 PM on 12/02/2011

Rather lame image at the top of the story -- not a single fullscreen smartphone on there..

[The Canadian]

02:23 PM on 12/02/2011

Having served in the Canadian Armed Forces, I learned something about signal intelligence (SIGINT). One thing that became clear right away is that the government didn't just listen to our enemies.

There were systems like ECHELON which was created in the Cold War (and which has been superceded since), which was supposed to monitor military and diplomatic communications, but also had the capability to tap into domestic satellites. Nobody other than insiders know for sure what ECHELON was capable of, but anyone who thinks that being monitored is a recent phenomenon better wake up.

However, now private interests have joined the party, but people shouldn't get too paranoid yet. The problem is the amount and quality of data being generated still has to be analysed and interpreted to mean anything.

For years, the CIA has grappled with this problem They get absolute floods of data from spy satellites, but a human operative still has analyse it. They just do not have the time or resources to do general analysis, and only drill down to details in areas of interest.

And when they do, they still have problems. Just because they have data doesn't mean it is accurate. Private companies are going to face the same problems, and unless they know exactly what data they should include or ignore in their analyses, they are not going to be able to exploit the information properly.

But despite this, all this private monitoring is very troubling and should be stopped.

[pomluvr3]

01:14 PM on 12/02/2011

Another invasion of our right to privacy.

[Klein bottle]

03:46 PM on 12/05/2011

You have it all wrong - it is the cell phone companies that have a right to privacy-your privacy.

[dicktomharry]

12:24 PM on 12/02/2011

All infor passes through satilites goverment owned so you are all being watched

[teabagmetos]

10:55 AM on 12/02/2011

I'm glad I dont have a smartphone, other than filming a video and maybe e-mailing it, I have no use for one, I just want a phone, I dont need a gameboy and certainly dont want to do wireless banking !!
This is just more invasion of privacy by our emerging police state !!

[dogface]

10:10 AM on 12/02/2011

CIQ or not is only the tip of the issue. I won't buy another android until Google fixes the apps and permissions.
1. I need the ability to delete unwanted apps. Completely. Simply. Once. No shadow presence either.
2. My insurance company and bank have no business knowing my location. Period.
3. My insurance company and bank have no business preventing my phone from sleeping.
4. Battery management is MY business - not that of commercial apps or businesses.
I miss the privacy, confidentiality, security, of my Blackberry. There is an opportunity here . . .

[nobodyzhome]

08:55 AM on 12/03/2011

Not sure permissions are Google's fault. It should be the fault of the App writer. So if you bank app wants your location, that's all on them, not Google.

[Duane Wills]

03:21 PM on 12/05/2011

That is exactly why I went back from Android to BlackBerry. With my BlackBerry, my phone is MY phone. Frankly, it should go without saying. The idea that I, as an end user, should have to use cobbled together third-party tools to give MYSELF control over my OWN PHONE is disgusting.

[Jared Jentzsch]

09:55 AM on 12/02/2011

If a company is tracking you to know what you are up to, maybe you should act in kind. What are they up to?

[Elitist Not]

08:50 PM on 12/04/2011

That is easy to answer. They are busy screwing over customers, trying to build monopolies, figuring out way to cheat on accounting and lobbying government.

[themeekeer]

09:37 AM on 12/02/2011

I wonder if this applies to the iPad as well? Does anyone know?