Carrier IQ: Should I be worried about it?

[Closingracer]

This is the first Android phone that has it. I had the S2 Skyrocket Where it "had" it but wasn't activated, S3,s4 and Nexus 5 which doesnt have it but the T-mobile variant of the Note 3 apparently does have it... What does it do exactly and should i be worried that my phone does have it ?

I remember there was people complaining about it a few years ago and never cared to looked into it since none of my Android phones had it and came out apple used it after i stopped using iphones (iphone 3GS and iphone 4) .

 

[Rukbat]

It's just the TMobile variant, I just ran the detector on the AT&T Variant and it's there too. Isn't CarrierIQ Martian for NSA? (I've removed it from other phones, but I wouldn't try to remove it from an AT&T or Verizon Note 3. It'd probably cause your car's engine to seize up.

 

[Aquila]

Carrier IQ is essentially made to collect and transmit diagnostic metrics from your device to their servers where it is aggregated and dispersed to carriers and sometimes OEMs. It's measuring performance of the software, connectivity of WiFi and mobile networks, etc and what metrics are collected is chosen by the carrier as determined by their device profile. It's original functionality was to provide context to things like dropped calls or failed to send text messages, show what apps are huge battery drains, etc, but the concern is about the scope of the information collected. In short, the intent is to help carriers see where they're falling down so they can improve future product offerings.

The previous controversy about it stems from discoveries that it had access to much more information than was previously believed, it normally is "hidden" from the users, typically does not have a toggle to turn it off or stop it from transmitting and that it's functionality could function as a key-logger, view browsing and app activity. The general consensus among users that know what CIQ is seems to be that it should be uninstallable, able to be disabled and/or an opt-in program, rather than a default and hidden task that is very difficult to remove without rooting your device.

 

[Closingracer]

Should I be worried about it being a key logger and etc? I don't mind it if they are honestly using it as they say

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[Aquila]

Should I be worried about it being a key logger and etc? I don't mind it if they are honestly using it as they say

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IMO, it's annoying, but I don't think that they are misusing it. They've been relatively successful at staying out of the news for a couple of years after hiring a new privacy manager and they've got a lot (their entire business) riding on not falling down into even a common perception of compromising user privacy or security. As far as I know, all US carriers use it except for Verizon... and Google doesn't use them in their Nexus devices sold from the Play Store. I have no idea about those bought through AT&T and T-Mobile though.

 

[Closingracer]

Nexus 5 I know doesn't have it and I think Verizon and Google have said they don't use it

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