(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

BY ADNAN S. KHAN

LAUREN ZIMA

It has been called everything from a harmless data collection program to a personal information stealing monster. Either way, it seems Sprint has decided it’s best to separate itself from the controversial Carrier IQ software. Geek.com has the details.

“In an attempt to distance themselves from the increasingly volatile Carrier IQ situation, we’ve been told that Sprint has ordered that all of their hardware partners remove the Carrier IQ software from Sprint devices as soon as possible.”
 

Back in November, Android Developer Trevor Eckhart revealed that Android-based phones had a program called Carrier IQ installed in them. Carrier IQ tracks every single keystroke you make after turning on your phone. And about 26 million of Sprint’s phones have the program.


Sprint insists the program has been used only for diagnostic purposes. But U.S. Senator Al Franken, who is leading the charge against Carrier IQ and has received documentation on its use from every major phone company, is still not convinced.
 

In a statement released Thursday he said…
 

“People have a fundamental right to control their private information. After reading the companies’ responses, I’m still concerned that this right is not being respected. The average user of any device equipped with Carrier IQ software has no way of knowing that this software is running, what information it is getting, and who it is giving it to-and that’s a problem.”
 

On Friday, Sprint caved to the pressure and disabled the use of Carrier IQ. But many media outlets are reporting Sprint is using the term ‘disabled’ loosely. Los Angeles Times notes...
 

“Importantly, that doesn't mean they have turned off or deleted the data collection software from your phone. Instead, the company is using the term ‘disabled’ to mean that it is no longer accessing data from the Carrier IQ program, even though that program is still operational on your mobile device.”

Sneaky … But is it really that dastardly?
 

PCWorld’s Tony Bradley has pointed out people’s fear that their information will be misused is a little misplaced, because companies cannot use customers’ personal information for profit. He says if gathering data improves the user experience -- that's great. And a writer for PCWorld says these days, privacy is basically an illusion anyway.

“Privacy is a dwindling currency as technology continues to evolve and devices get increasingly loaded up with data-laden features like GPS, facial recognition … The only way to completely guard your privacy when it comes to your mobile phone is to not use it.”
 

Sprint also said that only 5 percent of those 26 million phones were actually sending data back to Sprint.