If you have a smartphone, you might have wondered how much of your personal data is being tracked. Android developer, Trevor Eckhart has let us in on some dirty little secrets your Android device isn’t telling you. Your personal information is being tracked a lot more than you might think.

A company called Carrier IQ makes software that is installed into almost all Android mobile phones. This software is supposedly installed for "making your user experience better” on your Android devices. On Carrier IQ’s website, they boast about how they are "the only embedded analytics company to support millions of devices simultaneously, we give Wireless Carriers and Handset Manufacturers unprecedented insight into their customers' mobile experience."

What Carrier IQ isn’t telling you, is everything you do is being recorded by this hidden software inside your mobile device. It even circumvents web encryption and logs everything, including key strokes, your passwords and Google searches.

To make matters worse, you are never even warned about this “service” taking place. There is no way of choosing if you want to uninstall or menus to opt-out from using this software. Carrier IQ’s software is installed deep into your smartphone, where the average customer doesn’t even know its running.

No matter how secure you think your Android phone is, this commercial spyware will log everything you do. Carrier IQ’s software knows everything about you, none of your personal information is safe. Everything from your web browsing to your text messaging and passwords, to simple keystrokes like hitting the menu or back button are recorded.

It also doesn’t matter if you're using a 3G, 4G, or even if you're using your private Wi-Fi connection. The spyware is logging personal information all the time, even if your smartphone is not tied with a service provider.

Carrier IQ has released a public statement (PDF), denying the allegations by saying:

“While we look at many aspects of a device's performance, we are counting and summarizing performance, not recording keystrokes or providing tracking tools”.

In the video below, Security researcher and XDA developer Trevor Eckhart shows a whole different story. The video shows how this nearly undetectable piece of software monitors your every move from user keystrokes, to which mobile apps are downloaded and installed.



Even if Carrier IQ isn’t using this information for bad intentions, who’s to say others aren’t dying to retrieve it.

Let us know what your take is on this. Do you mind all your information being logged? Do you think its wrong for mobile phone carriers to install spyware without your knowledge? Why do you think Carrier IQ doesn’t have an opt-out option, for this so called “service”? Does this make you want to change the way you use your smartphone?

VIA: Slash Gear

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Tags: carrier iq, android, Spyware, Spying, big Brother, carrieriq, data logging, data, information hacking, Software, key strokes, information log, keystrokes, logging, mobile phone spying, Personal information, Personal info, key logging, keylogging