It seems the smartphone world is getting closer to going crazy about the speculations on whether Carrier IQ is inside certain devices or not. Carrier IQ is one of the leading companies, which creates what it says Mobile Service Intelligence solutions for mobile market. But many are sure its software is a “root-kit,” which can spy on smartphone user’s actions and information.
When one of the carriers or manufactures suddenly officially announces there is no Carrier IQ in their phones, the silence of the rest could potentially mean they cannot come up with such an announcement, since they at least do not know if Carrier IQ is there inside their phones. So this formula brought to today’s situation when every single carrier and manufacturer deems its duty to make an announcement related to this issue.
Nokia for example announced, “Nokia is aware of inaccurate reports, which state that software from Carrier IQ has been found on Nokia devices. Carrier IQ does not ship products for any Nokia devices, so these reports are wrong.” Verizon Wireless, O2 and Vodafone all followed in a similar tone.
Meanwhile, Carrier IQ newly appointed CEO Larry Lenhart has uploaded a video on YouTube, where he states his company respects privacy and there is absolutely no way Carrier IQ can record keystrokes or track personal information. Nevertheless, too many people remain skeptical whether Carrier IQ makes software, which is not capable of doing it. Some even say Carrier IQ is not to be blamed, but the carriers themselves want to track user information, which seems to be true, for such information is needed for better service provision.
However, it is clear even to a child the Carrier IQ brand and image gets an enormous marketing promotion from all this and who knows, maybe in future the manufacturers themselves will boast their phones come with pre-installed, dedicated or whatever Carrier IQ inside.
