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Sprint disables Carrier IQ on all of its devices

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 17 Dec 2011 1:14 User comments (17)

Sprint disables Carrier IQ on all of its devices Sprint, the largest user of Carrier IQ software in the U.S., has said this week that is completely disabling the software in all of its devices.
The carrier admitted to using the software since 2006, and that it is installed on 26 million Sprint smartphones and tablets.

Due to recent customer concerns over the rootkit, Sprint says it has stopped collecting data using Carrier IQ, disabled it from all past devices, and will consider fully dropping it in the future. Sprint adds that they only used Carrier IQ to collect network- and device-related information for quality-of-service-related purposes.

"We have weighed customer concerns and we have disabled use of the tool so that diagnostic information and data is no longer being collected," read the carrier's statement to Senator Al Franken. "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."



Carrier IQ, which is installed in over 140 million devices, can read the state of your phone at all times, log all keystrokes, see who you called, see who you texted, see what terms you have searched for, and logs sleep/uptime.

As the carrier concludes: "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. Sprint does not look at the content of customer messages, emails, photos, videos, keystrokes, etc. using the diagnostic tools offered by Carrier IQ."

You can read their full response to Senator Franken here: http://franken.senate.gov/files/letter/111214_Sprint_Response_to_Sen_Franken_CarrierIQ.pdf

Tags: Sprint rootkit CarrierIQ Disabled
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17 user comments

117.12.2011 15:02
KillerBug
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"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."

Yeah...and installing spyware on 26 million devices is a great way of doing that. :)

"Sprint does not look at the content of customer messages, emails, photos, videos, keystrokes, etc. using the diagnostic tools offered by Carrier IQ."

Just to be clear, they didn't deny looking at said information; they only denied using CarrierIQ to do so.

217.12.2011 17:20
Morreale
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Senior Member

My math prof worked with the CIA apparently and made some kind of program or something that monitors basically everything electronic, back in the 90s. We thought he was totally nuts but then we remembered that he does have a PhD in mathematics amongst other things, and working with the American national defense was listed as part of his credentials :/

Why does everyone care about this little thing? Do people honestly expect total privacy when using their cellphone or browsing the internet today?

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 17 Dec 2011 @ 8:13

317.12.2011 19:39
Jeffrey_P
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Originally posted by KillerBug:
 "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."

Yeah...and installing spyware on 26 million devices is a great way of doing that. :)

"Sprint does not look at the content of customer messages, emails, photos, videos, keystrokes, etc. using the diagnostic tools offered by Carrier IQ."

Just to be clear, they didn't deny looking at said information; they only denied using CarrierIQ to do so.
Only took ~6 years to figure things out?

I smell a class action suit.

Jeff

417.12.2011 21:44
SomeBozo
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Seems to me sure seems like like Sp1nt knew full well this practice is illegal and is now posturing to say "See we are the good guys...". In actuality they are guilty as hell and should get some penalty over this.

517.12.2011 23:34
Jeffrey_P
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Originally posted by Morreale:
 My math prof worked with the CIA apparently and made some kind of program or something that monitors basically everything electronic, back in the 90s. We thought he was totally nuts but then we remembered that he does have a PhD in mathematics amongst other things, and working with the American national defense was listed as part of his credentials :/

Why does everyone care about this little thing? Do people honestly expect total privacy when using their cellphone or browsing the internet today?
That is not the point..
Anyway you can minimize what you do as a private citizen is to our benefit.

Younger generations do not understand what freedom is.
It seems going the way of China is more acceptable to these people because that is all they know.

Sad really, I feel sorry for these young dumb fu**s.

Jeff
This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 17 Dec 2011 @ 11:37

618.12.2011 00:04
DVDBack23
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Originally posted by Morreale:
 My math prof worked with the CIA apparently and made some kind of program or something that monitors basically everything electronic, back in the 90s. We thought he was totally nuts but then we remembered that he does have a PhD in mathematics amongst other things, and working with the American national defense was listed as part of his credentials :/

Why does everyone care about this little thing? Do people honestly expect total privacy when using their cellphone or browsing the internet today?
We expect to sign away our privacy at our choosing, not have spyware pre-installed and remain hidden with no opt-in.

718.12.2011 01:35
Morreale
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Senior Member

Originally posted by Jeffrey_P:
Originally posted by Morreale:
 My math prof worked with the CIA apparently and made some kind of program or something that monitors basically everything electronic, back in the 90s. We thought he was totally nuts but then we remembered that he does have a PhD in mathematics amongst other things, and working with the American national defense was listed as part of his credentials :/

Why does everyone care about this little thing? Do people honestly expect total privacy when using their cellphone or browsing the internet today?
That is not the point..
Anyway you can minimize what you do as a private citizen is to our benefit.

Younger generations do not understand what freedom is.
It seems going the way of China is more acceptable to these people because that is all they know.

Sad really, I feel sorry for these young dumb fu**s.

Jeff
The young learn from the old. Nice.

818.12.2011 01:55
Jeffrey_P
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Senior Member

Originally posted by Morreale:
Originally posted by Jeffrey_P:
Originally posted by Morreale:
 My math prof worked with the CIA apparently and made some kind of program or something that monitors basically everything electronic, back in the 90s. We thought he was totally nuts but then we remembered that he does have a PhD in mathematics amongst other things, and working with the American national defense was listed as part of his credentials :/

Why does everyone care about this little thing? Do people honestly expect total privacy when using their cellphone or browsing the internet today?
That is not the point..
Anyway you can minimize what you do as a private citizen is to our benefit.

Younger generations do not understand what freedom is.
It seems going the way of China is more acceptable to these people because that is all they know.

Sad really, I feel sorry for these young dumb fu**s.

Jeff
The young learn from the old. Nice.
The young are to busy two thumbing it. They don't have time to interact with flesh and blood. I see kids walking down the street without a care in the world. Not watching traffic flow. Hey, if they get nailed by a car, bus or Semi it's not my concern

My daughters are nothing like that. They know it's rude to disassociate themselves while having a discussion, at a restaurant, movie theater or driving, etc.

It's the parents who allow kids to do such things. Some parents just let kids do idiotic crap like this which is a reflection of the parents and not the children. Maybe for P&Q?

Jeff
This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 18 Dec 2011 @ 1:57

918.12.2011 03:46
Morreale
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Senior Member

Originally posted by Jeffrey_P:
Originally posted by Morreale:
Originally posted by Jeffrey_P:
Originally posted by Morreale:
 My math prof worked with the CIA apparently and made some kind of program or something that monitors basically everything electronic, back in the 90s. We thought he was totally nuts but then we remembered that he does have a PhD in mathematics amongst other things, and working with the American national defense was listed as part of his credentials :/

Why does everyone care about this little thing? Do people honestly expect total privacy when using their cellphone or browsing the internet today?
That is not the point..
Anyway you can minimize what you do as a private citizen is to our benefit.

Younger generations do not understand what freedom is.
It seems going the way of China is more acceptable to these people because that is all they know.

Sad really, I feel sorry for these young dumb fu**s.

Jeff
The young learn from the old. Nice.
The young are to busy two thumbing it. They don't have time to interact with flesh and blood. I see kids walking down the street without a care in the world. Not watching traffic flow. Hey, if they get nailed by a car, bus or Semi it's not my concern

My daughters are nothing like that. They know it's rude to disassociate themselves while having a discussion, at a restaurant, movie theater or driving, etc.

It's the parents who allow kids to do such things. Some parents just let kids do idiotic crap like this which is a reflection of the parents and not the children. Maybe for P&Q?

Jeff
Yea I can see what you mean. I know a few guys still in high school, their parents basically allow them to smoke weed in the house whenever without issue. I'm not against weed but that's just ridiculous. The parents don't even smoke themselves. I'd be on the street if my dad just heard about me smoking, never mind having the stuff on me. Makes no sense, are people scared to discipline their kids?

Those are the young dumb fu**s you speak of. I think the problem with the rest of us is that we're just not informed about these issues. Or I at least consider myself pretty informed/try to be, but my friends don't really care about being informed themselves... I don't know :s
This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 18 Dec 2011 @ 3:50

1018.12.2011 04:38
jookycola
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Member

I'm not satisfied, I want it removed from my phone. I'm NOT going to take them at their word that they "disabled" it. If they seriously want to make it right they would issue a patch tomorrow that removes it from your phone.

1118.12.2011 07:37
KillerBug
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AfterDawn Addict

Originally posted by Jeffrey_P:
Originally posted by Morreale:
Originally posted by Jeffrey_P:
Originally posted by Morreale:
 My math prof worked with the CIA apparently and made some kind of program or something that monitors basically everything electronic, back in the 90s. We thought he was totally nuts but then we remembered that he does have a PhD in mathematics amongst other things, and working with the American national defense was listed as part of his credentials :/

Why does everyone care about this little thing? Do people honestly expect total privacy when using their cellphone or browsing the internet today?
That is not the point..
Anyway you can minimize what you do as a private citizen is to our benefit.

Younger generations do not understand what freedom is.
It seems going the way of China is more acceptable to these people because that is all they know.

Sad really, I feel sorry for these young dumb fu**s.

Jeff
The young learn from the old. Nice.
The young are to busy two thumbing it. They don't have time to interact with flesh and blood. I see kids walking down the street without a care in the world. Not watching traffic flow. Hey, if they get nailed by a car, bus or Semi it's not my concern

My daughters are nothing like that. They know it's rude to disassociate themselves while having a discussion, at a restaurant, movie theater or driving, etc.

It's the parents who allow kids to do such things. Some parents just let kids do idiotic crap like this which is a reflection of the parents and not the children. Maybe for P&Q?

Jeff
The old are the ones who created the system that is currently in place. Don't blame the young...even if they are ignorant and lazy, it is only because of how they were raised by the last generation.

1218.12.2011 11:57
SomeBozo
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Member

Originally posted by jookycola:
 I'm not satisfied, I want it removed from my phone. I'm NOT going to take them at their word that they "disabled" it. If they seriously want to make it right they would issue a patch tomorrow that removes it from your phone.
Completely true, I think we'd agree that we should be able to have a certain level of trust with companies are going to be doing this. How come if we do business with some company that give them the right to monitor, analyze, call us, e-mail and otherwise invade our privacy? For me just the fact that it is present on the phone is enough for me to consider spr1nt is guilty as hell.

1319.12.2011 01:15
KillerBug
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AfterDawn Addict

Originally posted by SomeBozo:
Originally posted by jookycola:
 I'm not satisfied, I want it removed from my phone. I'm NOT going to take them at their word that they "disabled" it. If they seriously want to make it right they would issue a patch tomorrow that removes it from your phone.
Completely true, I think we'd agree that we should be able to have a certain level of trust with companies are going to be doing this. How come if we do business with some company that give them the right to monitor, analyze, call us, e-mail and otherwise invade our privacy? For me just the fact that it is present on the phone is enough for me to consider spr1nt is guilty as hell.
We SHOULD be able to trust businesses to follow the law at least, but we really can't. Corporations are actually required to break the law if they feel it is in the best interest of their shareholders.

1419.12.2011 05:41
SoulGLOW
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Member

Originally posted by KillerBug:
 "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."

Yeah...and installing spyware on 26 million devices is a great way of doing that. :)

"Sprint does not look at the content of customer messages, emails, photos, videos, keystrokes, etc. using the diagnostic tools offered by Carrier IQ."

Just to be clear, they didn't deny looking at said information; they only denied using CarrierIQ to do so.
exactly what I saw and was about to point out. After 8 years and my best phone ever I'm dumping Sprint...but not cuz of that. They cancelled my main line because I used it, via 4G, to download some files from bittorents. And it wasn't anything commercial that I was "stealing" either. Bitches can kiss my ass. All I need is a tracphone anyway.

1519.12.2011 05:42
SoulGLOW
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Member

Originally posted by KillerBug:
Originally posted by SomeBozo:
Originally posted by jookycola:
 I'm not satisfied, I want it removed from my phone. I'm NOT going to take them at their word that they "disabled" it. If they seriously want to make it right they would issue a patch tomorrow that removes it from your phone.
Completely true, I think we'd agree that we should be able to have a certain level of trust with companies are going to be doing this. How come if we do business with some company that give them the right to monitor, analyze, call us, e-mail and otherwise invade our privacy? For me just the fact that it is present on the phone is enough for me to consider spr1nt is guilty as hell.
We SHOULD be able to trust businesses to follow the law at least, but we really can't. Corporations are actually required to break the law if they feel it is in the best interest of their shareholders.
OR GOVERNMENT!!!!

1619.12.2011 10:25
KillerBug
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AfterDawn Addict

Originally posted by SoulGLOW:
Originally posted by KillerBug:
Originally posted by SomeBozo:
Originally posted by jookycola:
 I'm not satisfied, I want it removed from my phone. I'm NOT going to take them at their word that they "disabled" it. If they seriously want to make it right they would issue a patch tomorrow that removes it from your phone.
Completely true, I think we'd agree that we should be able to have a certain level of trust with companies are going to be doing this. How come if we do business with some company that give them the right to monitor, analyze, call us, e-mail and otherwise invade our privacy? For me just the fact that it is present on the phone is enough for me to consider spr1nt is guilty as hell.
We SHOULD be able to trust businesses to follow the law at least, but we really can't. Corporations are actually required to break the law if they feel it is in the best interest of their shareholders.
OR GOVERNMENT!!!!
No, you should never trust a government...they are; by definition; there to exploit the populous.

1721.12.2011 08:52
SoulGLOW
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Member

Originally posted by KillerBug:
Originally posted by SoulGLOW:
Originally posted by KillerBug:
Originally posted by SomeBozo:
Originally posted by jookycola:
 I'm not satisfied, I want it removed from my phone. I'm NOT going to take them at their word that they "disabled" it. If they seriously want to make it right they would issue a patch tomorrow that removes it from your phone.
Completely true, I think we'd agree that we should be able to have a certain level of trust with companies are going to be doing this. How come if we do business with some company that give them the right to monitor, analyze, call us, e-mail and otherwise invade our privacy? For me just the fact that it is present on the phone is enough for me to consider spr1nt is guilty as hell.
We SHOULD be able to trust businesses to follow the law at least, but we really can't. Corporations are actually required to break the law if they feel it is in the best interest of their shareholders.
OR GOVERNMENT!!!!
No, you should never trust a government...they are; by definition; there to exploit the populous.
Sorry, I should've put in "...Or Government" as I was intending to continue his sentence as in:

"We SHOULD be able to trust businesses to follow the law at least, but we really can't. Corporations are actually required to break the law if they feel it is in the best interest of their shareholders.....OR GOVERNMENT!!!"

AS in it being in the best interest of government.

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