keytracer

[kcrave22]

Why in the world is this program on my phone?? It has access to everything!

Settings -> Manage Applications -> Keytracer

 

[Kevin Gossett]

Googling didn't turn up much information on what it actually does, but I do know it is part of Touchwiz...

No need to worry about it

 

[cordoni]

Googling didn't turn up much information on what it actually does, but I do know it is part of Touchwiz...

No need to worry about it

Yep, we're good.
I stressed a little the first time I saw it too, though.

 

[NickA]

I saw it a while ago too. Why in the world would they name it Keytracer...

 

[kcrave22]

Hmm. Sounds sketchy to me. Must be Verizons 62822025629 attempt to rule the universe.

Thanks to everyone!!

 

[Suzanne_akita2]

I ordered a new phone from verizon, and when it arrived and I unwrapped it from the box, it had keytracer installed on it. I did the clean sweep factory reboot, to wipe clean everything extra that verizon didn't place on it, and it was still there, so it came from the factory! And it won't let me uninstall it.

If you were worried about it - you should be. It is everything creepy that it looks like. It can skype you and take your pic without knowing. It has free reign with your gps and call and text and internet history and key stroke records, and everything else under the sun. And when you turn your phone off, it can secretly keep it on. Yay - how nice! Some of their other applications that I knew were normal and I wouldn't usually think to check also had spyware applications piggybacked onto them that I wouldn't have thought.

I called and complained and the tech (maybe he was new) seemed to think it did sound like something bad, and he wondered WHO could have placed such a thing on my phone. I tried to tell him it came from the factory like that and I haven't touched the phone since I got it a couple days ago. But from doing a google search and looking at message boards, it does look like verizon does this on purpose. Since I complained, he said I could return this one and get a replacement free. When the replacement arrives, I'm checking that one too.

It is not ok for that to be on your phone. If it is, you should complain too.

 

[sparesr4sissies]

I ordered a new phone from verizon, and when it arrived and I unwrapped it from the box, it had keytracer installed on it. I did the clean sweep factory reboot, to wipe clean everything extra that verizon didn't place on it, and it was still there, so it came from the factory! And it won't let me uninstall it.

If you were worried about it - you should be. It is everything creepy that it looks like. It can skype you and take your pic without knowing. It has free reign with your gps and call and text and internet history and key stroke records, and everything else under the sun. And when you turn your phone off, it can secretly keep it on. Yay - how nice! Some of their other applications that I knew were normal and I wouldn't usually think to check also had spyware applications piggybacked onto them that I wouldn't have thought.

I called and complained and the tech (maybe he was new) seemed to think it did sound like something bad, and he wondered WHO could have placed such a thing on my phone. I tried to tell him it came from the factory like that and I haven't touched the phone since I got it a couple days ago. But from doing a google search and looking at message boards, it does look like verizon does this on purpose. Since I complained, he said I could return this one and get a replacement free. When the replacement arrives, I'm checking that one too.

It is not ok for that to be on your phone. If it is, you should complain too.

Don't forget that it follows you into the bathroom. It tells your boss everything that you say, too.

 

[LJ13]

I've had a stock SCH-I500 for over a year now, and just recently flashed EH03 (b/c the VZ OTA update bricked my phone). This app has never been and is not currently on my phone. If it's on yours, and VZ will not claim responsibility for it, then I suggest you take extraordinary measures (i.e. rooting) to remove it yourself.

 

[Lttlwing16]

Just used AppFreezer to freeze it with no consequence. Just putting that out there.

 

[Suzanne_akita2]

Update: the replacement phone came in. Right out of the box, it had "keytracer" and other apps with similar permissions installed on it. I called Verizon and complained that since this was twice in a row, it was no accident. They looked into it, apologized for something like that being on my phone, and suggested I call Samsung, since they must have placed it there since the phone was sent right from the factory. Samsung played the blame game, and said it wasn't there fault, google wanted it on their phones, so all new phones beginning around Oct. 2011 would have it on there. Asked why google truly needed to do things on my phone like intercept my phone calls and texts, keep my phone secretly on when I turned it off, take its own pictures, record key strokes which could get all my passwords, etc. I got no good explanation for that; just a lot of nervous mumbo jumbo that I'm not buying. I wasn't born yesterday, and I don't believe everything that everyone tells me, because I can think for myself - thank you very much. This phone is being sent back. No one is going to force my into using those apps, and get me to believe that they are normal or acceptable. If I knew how, alternatively I also would have liked to just disable those apps, but I'm not there yet and I don't know how to do that.

 

[sparesr4sissies]

Update: the replacement phone came in. Right out of the box, it had "keytracer" and other apps with similar permissions installed on it. I called Verizon and complained that since this was twice in a row, it was no accident. They looked into it, apologized for something like that being on my phone, and suggested I call Samsung, since they must have placed it there since the phone was sent right from the factory. Samsung played the blame game, and said it wasn't there fault, google wanted it on their phones, so all new phones beginning around Oct. 2011 would have it on there. Asked why google truly needed to do things on my phone like intercept my phone calls and texts, keep my phone secretly on when I turned it off, take its own pictures, record key strokes which could get all my passwords, etc. I got no good explanation for that; just a lot of nervous mumbo jumbo that I'm not buying. I wasn't born yesterday, and I don't believe everything that everyone tells me, because I can think for myself - thank you very much. This phone is being sent back. No one is going to force my into using those apps, and get me to believe that they are normal or acceptable. If I knew how, alternatively I also would have liked to just disable those apps, but I'm not there yet and I don't know how to do that.

Just because something is called "KeyTracer" does not necessarily mean that it is recording and sharing every little thing you do.

 

[Bobby J]

Go to applications, manage apps, all, scroll down to key tracer and you can see what it has access to and can do.

 

[Suzanne_akita2]

I did that initially. I was going through and checking the permissions on all of the applications, and when I came to keytracer and saw what it was allowed to do, that is when I got concerned.

 

[bobdtvman]

Hello Everyone.
I just purchased my Samsung Epic Sprint telephone from Radio Shack last week. I stumbled on this website while trying to research Keytracer myself.
I have an app on my phone that lets me trace the letters on my touchscreen to spell words. I trace over the letters, and the phone suggests possible words.
I was nervous about a program called "keytracer" . I would like to turn it off to see if the app is what I think it is. The force stop, and uninstall icons are greyed out. I would also like to remove some other junk that was bundled with my phone, like the NASCAR app, the Football app, and the Free HD games. I am more worried about those programs stealing my personal info right now. I tried to drag them to the garbage can on the bottom of the screen, but they are still there. Does anybody have any suggestions?

 

[donluz]

on my phone too, just noticed and never did see it before installing SuperClean3 (ms2).

As awful as the app sounds, did anyone ever consider this... if you were going to put a rogue app on a phone to track keystrokes, activity, whatever, wouldn't you give it a name of something subtle? So perhaps this isn't as bad as it sounds.

But how do you uninstall something when that's not an option (not enabled on apps screen) even with a phone that's rooted?

 

[Atc31988]

This is crazy! the list of things this program can do. it's pretty much saying. yea google can spy on you, intercept your calls, call people on your lists, view your calendar information, send people messages, use your authentication credentials on your account, edit your calendar and contact information, and that it can cause you charges on your bill. thats ok? something is seriously wrong here. I'm calling tomorrow and asking some questions and complaining. I suggest that everyone here does. In fact im going to make everyone I know aware of this and other corrupt programs. I feel like my rights are being violated. this should be and probably is illegal but somehow they've gotten around it.

Here is a list of things keytracer does:

add/modify calendar events and send email to guests, read calendar events, read contact data, read user defined dictionary, write contact data, directly call phone numbers, send sms messages, find your location and gps location, edit sms or mms, modify gmail, read sms or mms, receive wap, control near field communication, create bluetooth connections, full internet access, USE THE AUTHENTICATION CREDENTIALS OF AN ACCOUNT, modify/delete sd card contents, read phone state and identity, change your audio settings, take pictures and videos, bluetooth administration, change dial up network state, change wi-fi state, change wimax state, change UI settings, disable keylock, format external memory, modify global system settings, mount and unmount filesystems, prevent phone from sleeping, retrieve running applications, write access point name settings, write sync settings.

found an awesome post answering some of these questions. pretty scary. I'm certainly going to complain and push my legal rights on this issue. this is NOT legal and it wont change unless people step up and complain and try to do something about it.

READ THIS!
Your Android Phone Is Secretly Recording Everything You Do (Updated)

 

[Droid800]

This is crazy! the list of things this program can do. it's pretty much saying. yea google can spy on you, intercept your calls, call people on your lists, view your calendar information, send people messages, use your authentication credentials on your account, edit your calendar and contact information, and that it can cause you charges on your bill. thats ok? something is seriously wrong here. I'm calling tomorrow and asking some questions and complaining. I suggest that everyone here does. In fact im going to make everyone I know aware of this and other corrupt programs. I feel like my rights are being violated. this should be and probably is illegal but somehow they've gotten around it.

Here is a list of things keytracer does:

add/modify calendar events and send email to guests, read calendar events, read contact data, read user defined dictionary, write contact data, directly call phone numbers, send sms messages, find your location and gps location, edit sms or mms, modify gmail, read sms or mms, receive wap, control near field communication, create bluetooth connections, full internet access, USE THE AUTHENTICATION CREDENTIALS OF AN ACCOUNT, modify/delete sd card contents, read phone state and identity, change your audio settings, take pictures and videos, bluetooth administration, change dial up network state, change wi-fi state, change wimax state, change UI settings, disable keylock, format external memory, modify global system settings, mount and unmount filesystems, prevent phone from sleeping, retrieve running applications, write access point name settings, write sync settings.

found an awesome post answering some of these questions. pretty scary. I'm certainly going to complain and push my legal rights on this issue. this is NOT legal and it wont change unless people step up and complain and try to do something about it.

READ THIS!
Your Android Phone Is Secretly Recording Everything You Do (Updated)

Erm. Just because it has those permissions doesn't mean its using them. If its a system app (which it seems to be) there's no way for it NOT to have those permissions.

If I were you I would chill until its found out what it actually does.

Oh, and the story you link to is about carrier IQ, which has nothing to do with what's being discussed.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

[slamnpit]

Don't forget that it follows you into the bathroom. It tells your boss everything that you say, too.

I cant stand when people say things like that to make light of a situation.I found out my boss was doing this with my account and they did check my info all of it from phone. Its a horrible feeling and invasion of privacy. Thank you Susan for the info. We have no rights to privacy anymore and people don't seem to care but I do.

 

[Droid800]

I cant stand when people say things like that to make light of a situation.I found out my boss was doing this with my account and they did check my info all of it from phone. Its a horrible feeling and invasion of privacy. Thank you Susan for the info. We have no rights to privacy anymore and people don't seem to care but I do.

More like: she's saying something she knows nothing about, and she's trying to cast the unknown app as something it is not. There is literally nothing to make of the app, and certainly not anything like she is trying to say it is.

 

[Whit1123]

Check out the app called, "com.andriod.hiddenmenu" it has all the same permissions. This keytracer app is for encryption and security purposes. Check out this link...


http://www.keytracer.com/