FTC asked to investigate Carrier IQ practices

The Carrier IQ controversy continues to snowball, with U.S. Representative Edward Markey joining Senator Al Franken in calling for answers as to whether the Carrier IQ software violates consumer privacy rights, and two class-action suits being filed against Carrier IQ, HTC, and in one instance also Samsung.

Carrier IQ is a company and a software that's installed on mobile phones to provide performance feedback to mobile network operators. On Nov. 28, security researcher Trevor Eckhart posted a video suggesting that the software also captures keystrokes, text messages and location data.

“I have serious concerns about the Carrier IQ software and whether it is secretly collecting users’ personal information, such as the content of text messages,” Rep. Markey said in a Dec. 2 statement. “Consumers and families need to understand who is siphoning off and storing their personal information every time they use their smart phone. I am asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate this practice, and I will continue to monitor this important privacy issue.”

In his official letter to the FTC, Markey added that he was interested in any actions the FTC has taken or plans to take regarding the "installation of software that secretly tracks and reports back the activities of cell phone users," and that he believes the practice falls within Section 5 of the FTC Act to "protect Americans from unfair or deceptive acts or practices."

According to Reuters, Research In Motion has said that it doesn't install or authorize the Carrier IQ software, Nokia said that its phones don't use it either, and Apple acknowledged that iPhones running iOS 4 do use Carrier IQ, though it doesn't work with iOS 5.

AT&T told Ars Technica that its use of Carrier IQ is solely "to improve wireless network and service performance," and Sprint similarly said in a statement that it "cannot look at the content of customer messages, emails, photos, videos, etc., using the diagnostic tools offered by Carrier IQ," and that further the information it collects is not seen by or sold to anyone outside of Sprint.

On this site, Rich Karpinski has discussed how Carrier IQ could affect consumer trust in their carriers (CP: Analysis: Is Carrier IX controversy the perfect storm to destroy operator trust). Looking to calm such a storm, Carrier IQ last week updated its statement on the carrier's use of its software, explaining at greater length that it's to better serve users.

"While a few individuals have identified that there is a great deal of information available to the Carrier IQ software inside the handset, our software does not record, store or transmit the contents of SMS messages, email, photographs, audio or video," wrote the company. "For example, we understand whether an SMS was sent accurately, but do not record or transmit the content of the SMS. We know which applications are draining your battery, but do not capture the screen."

With federal lawmakers gaining interest and now lawsuits to sort out — one was filed in Northern California on behalf of four smartphone users and cites a violation of the Federal Wiretap Act, while the other was filed on behalf of a Sprint-running HTC Android phone owner in Illinois, who says she didn't know the defendants, HTC and Carrier IQ "were surreptitiously monitoring and collecting [private data], nor did she give them permission to do so" — don't expect the issue to disappear anytime soon.