Carrier IQ phone tracking: what you need to know – The Verge The Verge is about technology and how it makes us feel. Founded in 2011, we offer our audience everything from breaking news to reviews to award-winning features and investigations, on our site, in video, and in podcasts. 2015-12-31T15:51:43+00:00 https://www.theverge.com/rss/stream/2365736 https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/verge-rss-large_80b47e.png?w=150&h=150&crop=1 Kwame Opam <![CDATA[AT&T acquires part of data collection startup Carrier IQ]]> https://www.theverge.com/2015/12/31/10693478/att-carrier-iq-acquisition-assets-staff-data-collection 2015-12-31T10:51:43-05:00 2015-12-31T10:51:43-05:00

Back in 2011, data collection developer Carrier IQ caused a firestorm of criticism after a security researcher discovered its kernel-level software could be used to track smartphone users without their consent or control. Four years later, the company has been swallowed up by one of the telecoms that used it. TechCrunch reports that AT&T has acquired the assets and some staff from the startup, effectively shutting Carrier IQ down.

"We use CIQ software solely to improve the customer's network."

"We've acquired the rights to Carrier IQ's software, and some CIQ employees moved to AT&T," an AT&T spokesperson told TechCrunch. The company, having …

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]]> Adi Robertson <![CDATA[HTC settles with FTC over leaving Carrier IQ and other logging tools open to hackers]]> https://www.theverge.com/2013/2/22/4017746/htc-settles-with-ftc-over-insecure-logging-software 2013-02-22T12:11:05-05:00 2013-02-22T12:11:05-05:00
HTC Camera Stock

HTC has agreed to a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission over security problems that left its phones open to hijacking or stolen personal data. Like many other devices, HTC phones and tablets come with software that tracks device logs or user location - in its case, both an Android tool called HTC Logger and the controversial Carrier IQ. But the FTC says that the company failed to implement strong security. "Because HTC used an insecure communications mechanism, any third-party application on the user's device that could connect to the internet could exploit this vulnerability" to take device logs from either HTC Logger or a custom o …

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]]> Adi Robertson <![CDATA[Mobile Device Privacy Act, meant to stop Carrier IQ-style data collection, introduced in Congress]]> https://www.theverge.com/2012/9/14/3332018/mobile-device-privacy-act-introduced 2012-09-14T12:26:02-04:00 2012-09-14T12:26:02-04:00
AT&T LG Nitro Carrier IQ stock 900

After asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Carrier IQ's controversial tracking practices, US Representative Edward Markey has sponsored legislation to prevent it or other companies from collecting data without informing customers. The Mobile Device Privacy Act, drafted in January and introduced to the House of Representatives on Wednesday, requires companies that sell mobile devices or phone and data subscriptions to inform consumers if any "monitoring software" is included. If so, it must also detail the type of information that could be collected, who it's being sent to, and how it will be used. What's more, customers must co …

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]]> Dieter Bohn <![CDATA[Can Carrier IQ’s new Chief Privacy Officer build a ‘culture of privacy’?]]> https://www.theverge.com/2012/5/8/3007532/carrier-iq-chief-privacy-officer-magnolia-mobley-culture-of-privacy 2012-05-08T15:00:25-04:00 2012-05-08T15:00:25-04:00
carrier iq door 1020

Carrier IQ is no stranger to privacy issues after last November's discovery that its software was being improperly logged by HTC - the company quickly became a flashpoint for controversy, even though it worked with nearly every company in mobile from Apple to Sprint to Samsung. Today, the company is taking steps to rebuild its reputation, starting with the announced that it's hired a new Chief Privacy Officer and General Counsel named Magnolia Mobley. We sat down with Mobley and Carrier IQ's Andrew Coward to discuss her new role in the company and where Carrier IQ future now that it's more public than ever before.

Mobley comes to Carrier IQ …

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]]> Chris Ziegler <![CDATA[Carrier IQ lets carriers open their network quality stats to subscribers]]> https://www.theverge.com/2012/2/27/2827759/carrier-iq-lets-carriers-open-their-network-quality-stats-to 2012-02-27T09:44:52-05:00 2012-02-27T09:44:52-05:00
Carrier IQ

Vilified just weeks ago (somewhat inaccurately) for its behavior in collecting network performance metrics directly from subscribers' phones, Carrier IQ is taking the opposite approach at Mobile World Congress this week. The company's IQ Care product - designed to help service reps get a sense of what's wrong with customers' devices when they call in - is being retrofitted with a customer-facing "dashboard" that will allow them to see "health and performance of their device, applications, battery life, network coverage and dropped calls." This won't automatically become available to everyone whose carrier uses Carrier IQ, of course - it'll b …

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]]> TC. Sottek <![CDATA[Cellphone privacy bill introduced, would reveal and regulate Carrier IQ-like tracking software]]> https://www.theverge.com/2012/1/30/2758857/cellphone-privacy-bill-mobile-device-privacy-act-introduced-congress-carrier-iq 2012-01-30T16:24:01-05:00 2012-01-30T16:24:01-05:00
The Mobile Device Privacy Act

The row that's been brewing for months over controversial Carrier IQ software has prompted action in Congress: a draft bill titled The Mobile Device Privacy Act was introduced in the US House today that, if enacted, would require companies to disclose tracking software and detail what information it collects. The bill would require consumer consent for any data collection or transmission, and companies that want to transmit data to third parties would need to gain approval from the FTC and FCC in order to do so. In a statement released on his website, the bill's sponsor, Representative Edward Markey (D-MA), says that "consumers have the righ …

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]]> Dieter Bohn <![CDATA[Sprint removes Carrier IQ from Evo 4G, Evo Design 4G, and Epic 4G; adds bugfixes]]> https://www.theverge.com/2012/1/19/2719711/sprint-carrier-iq-evo-4g-evo-design-4g-and-epic-4g 2012-01-19T23:06:04-05:00 2012-01-19T23:06:04-05:00
Carrier IQ Clocks 776

After updating the Evo 3D to remove Carrier IQ software, Sprint has begun pushing out updates for a few more Android phones to strip the customer tracking software. The HTC Evo 4G, HTC Evo Design 4G, and Samsung Epic 4GG are all getting updates beginning today, and all three also are getting various bugfixes as well. The Evo 4G and Evo Design 4G should see improved battery life, and updated Peep client for Twitter, while the Epic 4G should have a speaker feedback fix along with a little more space in ROM as Sprint will no longer preload Qik or Asphalt 5.

The updates will be rolled out gradually over the next two weeks or so, but customers wit …

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]]> Dieter Bohn <![CDATA[Electronic Frontier Foundation reverse engineers Carrier IQ data collection]]> https://www.theverge.com/2011/12/21/2653640/electronic-frontier-foundation-reverse-engineers-carrier-iq 2011-12-21T23:26:02-05:00 2011-12-21T23:26:02-05:00
carrier iq door 1020

In our interview with Carrier IQ, the company was a little cagey about how it stores and protects data on phones before uploading that information to the carriers. That's somewhat understandable for two reasons: CIQ didn't want to "dare" anybody to reverse engineer its system and get access to the data and because apparently at least one piece of that data - the instructions for collecting it - isn't very strongly encrypted. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has begun the project of reverse engineering the CIQ "Profiles," which vary from device to device and carrier to carrier, but on each are the set of instructions that tell the phone wha …

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]]> Nilay Patel <![CDATA[The Verge Interview: Senator Al Franken on privacy, location tracking, and Carrier IQ]]> https://www.theverge.com/2011/12/21/2653060/the-verge-interview-senator-al-franken-on-privacy-location-tracking 2011-12-21T17:20:05-05:00 2011-12-21T17:20:05-05:00
al franken 640

Senator Al Franken was right in the middle of the Carrier IQ smartphone tracking controversy: a pair of scathing letters from the Minnesota senator are what ultimately shed the most light on how Carrier IQ was being used. Every major carrier save Verizon has now responded to his questions and admitted some use of the software or similar tracking software on their networks. (Verizon simply denied any use of Carrier IQ at all.) It now appears that such software is pervasive throughout the industry; whether it's Carrier IQ or something else, it's clear that network operators can track and analyze customer behavior with alarming detail. That's o …

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]]> Chris Ziegler <![CDATA[T-Mobile responds to Sen. Franken’s Carrier IQ inquiry: nine phones, 450k customers]]> https://www.theverge.com/2011/12/21/2652258/t-mobile-responds-to-sen-frankens-carrier-iq-inquiry-nine-phones-450k 2011-12-21T14:14:06-05:00 2011-12-21T14:14:06-05:00
carrier iq door 1020

Just as AT&T, Sprint, manufacturers, and Carrier IQ itself have done, T-Mobile has now responded to a request for information from US Senator Al Franken on how it makes use of Carrier IQ's many performance logging capabilities. The overall message in T-Mobile's letter is a similar line that we've heard elsewhere: that T-Mobile collects "technical data solely to understand what is happening on the device and the network so that [it] can more effectively and directly troubleshoot issues." The company also points out that it doesn't see the contents of text messages, email photos, videos, or voicemails, and it doesn't log keystrokes; furthermore …

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