The Internet has been abuzz with mentions of Carrier IQ, a analytical monitoring software that has been found to be present on numerous Android smartphones, as well as Apple’s own iOS platform.
As we are still coming to terms with what the service is actually monitoring and sending back to the company and our operators, Engadget brings us news of a new app from forensic specialist François Simond, a.k.a Supercurio, who has developed a neat little piece of Android software in just four hours that can be installed on your Android device and tell you if Carrier IQ is present on your smartphone.
Luckily, it doesn’t require root access or following complicated instructions.
Whilst the application isn’t 100% finished, it is already available on the Android Market and on open-source code repository Github for developers to want to expand on Simond’s early work.
Whilst you might not be able to do anything with the Carrier IQ code references on your device should the app detect them, you will at least be armed with the knowledge that your handset could be reporting your usage back to Carrier IQ and your operator.
Simond does warn that anti-Carrier IQ fixes are “not detected yet and still generate false positives”.
If you have a Nexus device, it’s almost certain that your device will not have Carrier IQ present – source have said that the search giant is not tracking users of its own-brand smartphones.
Apple has also announced that whilst traces of Carrier IQ are present on iPhone devices, the company stopped supporting the software with iOS 5 and will completely remove all traces of the code from customers’ iPhones in its next software update.
Those of you who think you can just buy an i-phone or update your OS don't understand the problem. ALL CELL PHONES are tracked, and anything on them can be using against you so long as the phone is connected to a "network". The "cell" in cell phone refers to the towers themselves, to guarantee quality of service your provider needs to know where your device is at all times, so ALL CELL PHONES "smart" and "dumb" are tracked. If they can get three stationary towers in touch with your phone (an easy thing these days) they can "triangulate" your location down to a dozen meters or so. Recent news mentioned a device called the stingray that can be used like a "portable cell tower" to find your phone wherever it is.
Now the tricky part is how exposed are you? To answer that you need to consider how "smart" your phone actually is? Does it have GPS? Does it have internet access? Does it have a camera? Does it have expanded capabilities to run applications? Well... Since it is connected to an active network, not only can the cell phone service provider locate you down to a few feet thanks to the GPS but so can a jealous partner or employer with software available online, an application designer / owner, a tech savvy computer geek, or someone with the monopoly of power like government, can use everything on that device that you can and more. Find us on facebook under "caged ideas LLC" for more information.
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