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Android following IOS?

IH8Rice

IH8Rice

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Aug 2, 2008
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nah, it just tracks a bit more then your location :rolleyes:
If you have any decently modern Android phone, everything you do is being recorded by hidden software lurking inside. It even circumvents web encryption and grabs everything—including your passwords and Google queries.

Worse: it's the handset manufacturers and the carriers who—in the name of "making your user experience better"—install this software without any way for you to opt-out. This video, recorded by 25-year-old Android developer Trevor Eckhart, shows how it works. This is bad. Really bad......

Carrier IQ's software is installed in your phone at the deepest level. You don't know it's there. You are never warned this is happening. You can't opt-in and you certainly can't opt-out.

The commercial spyware sits between the user and the applications in the phone so, no matter how secure and private your apps are, the spyware intercepts anything you do. From your location to your web browsing addresses and passwords to the content of your text messages.

This even happens using a private Wi-Fi connection instead of the carrier 3G or 4G connection.
Click to expand...
Your Android Phone Is Secretly Recording Everything You Do



blah blah blah, you rooted your phone so you dont have this problem. blah blah blah. 99.99% of the people out there dont root their phones

starts around 9:00mins
 
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syadasti

syadasti

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Apr 15, 2002
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The carriers pay for this service, they aren't going to let some of their biggest data users go unmonitored....

macrumors forum said:
On iOS 4 or greater open the /usr/bin/awd_ice2 or awd_ice3 file in TextEdit and search for the following phrase "carrieriq.com" You'll come across many references to "http://collector.sky.carrieriq.com:7001/collector" and other CarrierIQ sites. On iOS versions older then iOS 4, the binary file to search is IQAgent. To disable this on iOS, remove the following LaunchDaemons from /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/ if you have them: com.apple.iqagent.plist, com.apple.awd_ice2.plist, and com.apple.awd_ice3.plist. This applies to the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch.
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binary visions

binary visions

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Jun 13, 2002
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It does worse than run "in the background." It runs completely hidden.

This is pretty f**ked up, but has nothing to do with Android at all. It has everything to do with the carrier. Blackberry, Nokia and Apple all have Carrier IQ installed.

So... wrong title, wrong thread content, and wrong point - but I've been reading about this for a couple days now and am disturbed.
 
IH8Rice

IH8Rice

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binary visions said:
So... wrong title, wrong thread content, and wrong point
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i dont see how any of it is "wrong." if my sarcasm wasnt obvious on how this situation was actually worse then apple's hidden software that tracked your location, then oh well. i also hadnt read it effecting any apple phones as well.
 
syadasti

syadasti

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Quo Fan said:
Hmmmmm... Yet one more reason to stay with my dumb phone.
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Server-side solutions like Narus make phone type irrelevant.

iOS 5 affected too:

Twitter / Grant Paul: It appears Carrier IQ /is/ ...

edit: one win finally for woodsguy:

http://blog.chpwn.com/post/13572216737?fe250de0

It appears that if you really care about this, Windows Phone 7 is the only mobile operating system without this installed. ;P However, I think the blame here really belongs with the US carriers who obviously demanded this: personally, I am completely fine with this data being sent off (especially if it helps AT&T’s network improve), but I would definitely prefer if it was more transparent — even if you can disable it with that toggle, Apple only explains that it “might contain location data”.
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IH8Rice

IH8Rice

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All hell broke loose yesterday when it was discovered that most (but not all) Android phones (and BlackBerries, and others) are recording every keystroke you make. Now, references to the same software have been discovered in Apple's iOS. But in this case, it only logs technical data and it's off by default.........

It seems that the data Carrier IQ has access to is much more limited than it is on Android. From chpwn's blog: "...it does not appear the daemon has any access or communication with the UI layer, where text entry is done." That is extremely good news if it proves to be true, because it would mean that iOS wouldn't be logging your passwords, emails, SMS messages, etc. Even more good news: CarrierIQ only kicks in when the iPhone is in Diagnostic Mode, which is off by default. So you'd have to actively tinker with settings you never use for it to work.....

When activated, though, CarrierIQ does appear to log your name, phone number, carrier information, some info about the calls you are making, and your location (if Location Services are enabled).
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Yes, Your iPhone Can Track You With Carrier IQ, Too
 
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syadasti

syadasti

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iOS CarrierIQ Specifics:

- bluetooth connections (reports whether the connection was successful or not)
- network connections (reports time to connect)
- "reminders app". Guess this is a crash report or something, but again there's no real detail.
- location services approvals - i.e. if I approve an app to use my location, that gets sent. The app's ID and whether it was approved or not.
- location requests from apps - The name of the app, the request time, the requested accuracy and the delivered accuracy (i.e. how accurate a fix it managed).
- "carrier bundle change", probably when i changed plan with my network. No details.
- "modem reset"
- Airplane mode turned on/off
- wifi etc. turned on/off
- "camera calibration"
- various crash reports
- aggregated logs. These contain a list of all your apps, how many times they were launched, how big the backups were, lots of data on disk usage, and power usage.
- low memory reports
- call ended - date and time.

All of these contain device ID, and a profile ID.
Click to expand...
Note that CarrierIQ deployments are hardware OEM, OS, and carrier specific, there is no uniform usage.
 
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jonKranked

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i smell class action lawsuit.


i've heard custom roms may/may not remove this... i'm not fully up to speed on this issue (though I have heard of it and am NOT happy) - can anyone confirm?
 
syadasti

syadasti

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jonKranked said:
i smell class action lawsuit.


i've heard custom roms may/may not remove this... i'm not fully up to speed on this issue (though I have heard of it and am NOT happy) - can anyone confirm?
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This is legal, passed in 2007 (H.R. 964, the Spy Act) and so is the Sony rootkit if they make a v2.0:

Spy Act Only Protects Vendors and Their DRM | Adventures in IT - InfoWorld

A clue can be found in the Limitations section of the Act, which features this rather broad exception:

Exception Relating to Security- Nothing in this Act shall apply to--

(1) any monitoring of, or interaction with, a subscriber's Internet or other network connection or service, or a protected computer, by a telecommunications carrier, cable operator, computer hardware or software provider, or provider of information service or interactive computer service, to the extent that such monitoring or interaction is for network or computer security purposes, diagnostics, technical support, or repair, or for the detection or prevention of fraudulent activities; or

(2) a discrete interaction with a protected computer by a provider of computer software solely to determine whether the user of the computer is authorized to use such software, that occurs upon -- (A) initialization of the software; or (B) an affirmative request by the owner or authorized user for an update of, addition to, or technical service for, the software.
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syadasti

syadasti

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syadasti said:
Note that CarrierIQ deployments are hardware OEM, OS, and carrier specific, there is no uniform usage.
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Confirmed:

Verizon denies Carrier IQ is on any of its phones | The Verge

Verizon Wireless has just come out and reiterated that it does not use the smartphone tracking software. Jeffrey Nelson, part of the company's Communications team, has tweeted a reminder that Verizon does not use Carrier IQ and that it "made this clear 2 weeks ago." At that time, Carrier IQ hadn't quite managed to brew up the storm of controversy that it has done since, so it's good of Jeffrey to provide us with this refresher. So, Verizon phones are in the clear. All the other major US carriers, not so much.
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Google Nexus Android phones and original Xoom tablet do not include Carrier IQ tracking software | The Verge

Also goes for Samsung Galaxy S2 on AT&T.
 
Silver

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The next question to ask is, "Does Verizon use any sort of software that has some of the same functions as Carrier IQ? If so, what is it?"

Because that tweet doesn't say they don't do this, just that they don't use Carrier IQ.
 
syadasti

syadasti

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Apr 15, 2002
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Silver said:
The next question to ask is, "Does Verizon use any sort of software that has some of the same functions as Carrier IQ? If so, what is it?"

Because that tweet doesn't say they don't do this, just that they don't use Carrier IQ.
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The NSA Narus installations are nearly a decade old, client-side solutions are cheaper and offer more monitoring options but are not the only game in town. The Narus equipment is intended for carrier use.

Narus | Network Cyber Security | Dynamic Network Traffic Intelligence and Analytics Software
 
syadasti

syadasti

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binary visions

binary visions

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I suspected that it actually wasn't capturing anything problematic, my principle issue with it was a lack of transparency. How is anyone supposed to trust that nothing nefarious is being captured, when there was zero acknowledgement of its very existence?

I want a choice to participate in these metrics, and I want disclosure as to what is being captured and what is done with the data.
 
IH8Rice

IH8Rice

I'm Mr. Negative! I Fail!
Aug 2, 2008
24,524
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Sprint may have stood by its use of Carrier IQ on its smartphones when the furor over the software erupted a couple of weeks back -- while insisting all along that it was only used for network diagnostic purposes -- but it's now apparently had a change of heart. In a statement to Mobile Burn, Sprint says that it has "weighed customer concerns and we have disabled use of the tool so that diagnostic information and data is no longer being collected," adding that it's now "further evaluating options regarding this diagnostic software as well as Sprint's diagnostic needs." The carrier also reasserted that it has never used the software to examine users' personal information, and that it hasn't been used for targeted advertising or profiling customers. As Mobile Burn notes, however, while the software has been "disabled," it's not yet clear if that means it will actually be removed with a future software update, or not installed on new handsets.
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http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/16/sprint-says-it-has-disabled-carrier-iq-on-its-devices/
 
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