The recent discovery by Android security researcher Trevor Eckhart that some Android, Nokia and BlackBerry smartphones were spying on their customers has left companies scrambling to explain themselves.
The phones were logging much of their owners' activity, including keypresses, SMS messages, and location, using a "rootkit" called Carrier IQ. This app has special privileges on the smartphones it's installed on, and can't be detected, disabled, or removed by normal means. It wasn't until recently that this software was discovered by Android experts, and the Carrier IQ website claims that it's been installed on over 140 million smartphones already.
Here's what the companies involved have said about who's responsible.
Carrier IQ
Carrier IQ itself has issued a press release, which was so heavy in corporate jargon that it was lampooned by John Gruber of Daring Fireball. Later on, in an interview with John Paczkowski of All Things D, Carrier IQ VP of marketing Andrew Coward acknowledged that "The software," meaning the Carrier IQ rootkit, "receives a huge amount of information from the operating system." But he said that it's the wireless carrier which determines what data is collected and sent to it.
In Carrier IQ's defense, Trevor Eckhart's research turned up a stock, original version of the Carrier IQ app, which asks users what data they want to log and send with it. The version installed on the smartphones he and other experts found, though, was extremely difficult to find and disable, and was turned on by default. And when Carrier IQ found out about Eckhart's research, it sent him a cease and desist letter, which was only retracted after the Electronic Frontier Foundation's legal defenders intervened.
Smartphone manufacturers
RIM and Nokia denied installing Carrier IQ software on their devices, even though Eckhart said that the software had been found running on them. Neither company denied that the wireless carriers may have installed it of their own volition, although RIM claimed that it did not "authorize its carrier partners" to do so.
HTC directly pointed the finger at the carriers, in a statement, and said that it is "investigating the option" to let people opt-out of Carrier IQ data collection. A Samsung spokeswoman merely told ComputerWorld reporter Jaikumar Vijayan that the company installs Carrier IQ at the carriers' request.
In a statement published on The Verge, Apple said that it is phasing out its use of the Carrier IQ software, and that Apple "customers must actively opt-in" to have any of their data shared with Apple. All information sent is in "anonymous and encrypted" form.
Wireless carriers
US carriers AT&T and Sprint confirmed the use of Carrier IQ on their networks' smartphones, in the ComputerWorld article, claiming that the information gathered was only used to improve their networks' performance.
Verizon Wireless spokesperson Jeffrey Nelson told Kevin Fitchard of GigaOM that the company does not use Carrier IQ software at all. It has, however, admitted to logging what websites and smartphone features its customers use, as well as their locations. Verizon customers have the choice to opt out of having this data used for "business and marketing" purposes.
Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.
oregon football lana turner donald glover julio cesar chavez jr jason segel turducken power rangers jungle fury
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.