Smart Phones crossing the line?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) December 12, 2011 --

Last week, an Android hacker named Trevor Eckhart posted a video showing that an unkillable application running on Android smart phones is logging just about every action taken on the phone. In essence, it appears to be a built-in and sanctioned key logger that delivers all that personal info to ... someone (presumably Carrier IQ). It may even be happening in real time, although Carrier IQ disputes that -- and notes the data is only transmitted in small doses, as if that makes it OK. Eckhart's video demonstration reveals the logging output of an HTC Android device, which clearly shows that Carrier IQ's software is called when most buttons are pressed, when an SMS is received, and when a website is visited. Importantly, he demonstrates that visiting a supposedly encrypted SSL-secured site still delivers the URI to the Carrier IQ agent. The information given to Carrier IQ's agent on the phone occurs prior to the actual request, as a key logger would do. So far, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, HTC, and Samsung have confirmed that their phones include the tracking software; it appears to be disabled on the iPhone, and RIM has denied that the Carrier IQ software is on the BlackBerry. Nonetheless, it seems clear that a whole bunch of Smartphone users have been carrying around a device that has been watching their every mobile move -- including their location. Armed with this information, it's trivial to know where any given person carrying that phone is at any given time, who they're calling, what they're texting, and so on and so forth. Essentially, it's not just a key logger -- it's a life logger. As useful as they may be, smart phones aren't worth abrogating your personal privacy -- certainly not without consent. Unfortunately, there are only two ways to combat this: ditch your Smartphone or support legislation that correctly labels this type of nonsense as fraud and violation of privacy rights and comes with a massive fine. (Yes, CM7 is an option, but not for 99 percent of the population.) Even though several carriers have made a point that Carrier isn't on their phones, that doesn't mean that their phones don't or can't have similar agents in use. As much as I dislike throwing around laws over every little thing, this is not a little thing. Ideally this nonsense will already be covered by federal wiretapping laws, and those responsible will pay the price for this malfeasance.

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