Updated 9:22 am ET, Tuesday, December 20
Mobile intelligence software firm Carrier IQ’s scandal isn’t going away anytime soon, but the company’s controversial software will no longer be collecting data on Sprint phones, at least for the time being.
On Friday, Geek.com first reported and Mobile Burn later confirmed that Sprint, Carrier IQ’s largest customer by number of handsets, would be disabling the software on all of the 26 million Sprint phones that contained Carrier IQ, as a result of customer concerns.
Sprint confirmed the move to TPM. A Sprint spokesperson provided TPM a statement, which reads in part:
We have weighed customer concerns and we have disabled use of the tool so that diagnostic information and data is no longer being collected. We are further evaluating options regarding this diagnostic software as well as Sprint’s diagnostic needs. 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.
Sprint’s statement goes on to reiterate the company’s earlier claim that it did not use Carrier IQ to obtain any specific user content, including SMS messages or keystrokes, despite the fact that Carrier IQ earlier admitted that its software contained an unintended bug that was, in fact, capturing and sending customer SMS messages to carriers including Sprint, though in a non-human readable format that Carrier IQ would have had to decode, which the company says it did not.
Still, it is worth noting that Sprint doesn’t come out and say it is terminating its contract with Carrier IQ, nor does it say that it will cease using the software for good.
Instead, when asked about this ambiguity, a Sprint spokesperson responded to TPM by saying: “We have only said that we are further evaluating options regarding this diagnostic software as well as Sprint’s diagnostic needs.”
But the move does signal just how loud the Carrier IQ controversy has become.
What began as a simple, if worrisome video posted in late November by an Android researcher showing Carrier IQ capturing keystrokes — at least according to the researcher’s Android phone’s log file — has mushroomed into a full scale scandal over the software’s apparent capabilities and, more importantly, the inability of phone users to opt-out, or even see the software’s presence on their phones, let alone understand exactly what information the software is collecting.
Carrier IQ has repeatedly attempted to temper the outrage by explaining that the software is necessary for phone companies to improve their network management — learning when and where calls are dropped — findings that have been verified by other security researchers. But with the company’s answers so far falling on mostly deaf, or at least newly cynical ears, the controversy appears far from over, just entering a new phase.
Not only is Carrier IQ facing complaints from users, questions from lawmakers and meetings with U.S. regulators, but the Mountain View, California-based company is now apparently facing a revolt-of-sorts from its primary customers: The nation’s largest wireless carriers.
Aside from Sprint, AT&T and T-Mobile have also openly admitted to using Carrier IQ on their phones. AT&T said it uses it on only 1 percent of its total devices, some 900,000 phones, while T-Mobile has yet to release a number.
We’ve reached out to Carrier IQ’s other admitted carrier customers — AT&T and T-Mobile — concerning their plans to stick with, disable or otherwise alter the software on their phones and will update when we receive a response.
Late update: Carrier IQ released the following statement to TPM concerning its relationship with Sprint:
“Sprint has been a longstanding customer of Carrier IQ. We are actively engaged in discussions with Sprint to address their diagnostic needs in light of recent events.”
AT&T declined to comment on its relationship with Carrier IQ, pointing to the letter the company sent to Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) on December 14 in an effort to answer his questions. That letter contains AT&T’s admission it uses Carrier IQ on 1 percent of its phones, or 900,000 devices.
See Sprint’s full statement to TPM regarding the great Carrier IQ disabling here:
We have weighed customer concerns and we have disabled use of the tool so that diagnostic information and data is no longer being collected. We are further evaluating options regarding this diagnostic software as well as Sprint’s diagnostic needs. 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.
To reiterate, Sprint does not look at the content of customer messages, emails, photos, videos, keystrokes, etc. using the diagnostic tools offered by Carrier IQ. Customers can trust that we look at only enough information through the Carrier IQ tool reporting aggregated, anonymized metrics, to understand the customer experience with devices and how we can improve our performance and enhance the customer experience.
Sprint is committed to respecting and protecting the privacy and security of each customer’s personally identifiable information and other customer data. Privacy protection is part of Sprint’s commitment to customer satisfaction and trust. We follow and implement policies that are transparent and demonstrate our accountability for customer privacy and compliance with the law.
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 or to otherwise improve the customer experience or our network operations. We have used Carrier IQ to certify devices prior to launching them on our network and after launch to review device functionality on our network (i.e., to better understand where dropped calls occur, identifying gaps in cell tower coverage, etc.)
A key element of our privacy practices involves communicating with our customers about our privacy practices. The Sprint privacy policy explains that certain data is collected automatically by Sprint to ensure a high quality of service to our customers, including how a device is functioning when being used with different applications and about our network performance. The information collected using the Carrier IQ tool is tailored to provide aggregated information relevant to and for the particular purpose of:
–Certification and testing of devices;
–understanding device performance to determine when issues are occurring and how to resolve them; and
–analyzing our network performance and identify where we should be improving service.
