TechnesstivityHow To Find Carrier IQ On iOS, Android And Uninstall It
Earlier today, we covered Carrier IQ – A seeming spyware installed on phones by numerous phone manufacturers that clearly violates user privacy. The question is does your phone have Carrier IQ? And if it does, how do you get rid of it?
According to the discoverer of Carrier IQ, Trevor Eckhart, Carrier IQ comes pre-installed on HTC and Samsung phones, while Sprint is listed as one of its clients. A member of Xda-dev forum also called AT&T and it was confirmed that Carrier IQ is pre-installed on HTC’s Vivid. Verizon, Vodafone and O2 have denied using Carrier IQ. Eckhart stated that Nokia and RIM were on Carrier IQ’s list of clients but both companies have denied it. For users of Google’s Nexus lines, rejoice! Google’s Nexus One, Nexus S and Galaxy Nexus are free of Carrier IQ.
How To Find Carrier IQ On Your Android Device
To check if Carrier IQ has been installed on your Android device, download Trevor Eckhart’s free Logging Test App. Tap ‘CIQ Checks’ to find out if your device has the spyware.
How To Uninstall Carrier IQ On Android
However, if you want to get rid of Carrier IQ, you’ll have to root your device. If you use HTC’s Evo, Aria, Hero, Wildfire, Desire and Inc, head to Unrevoked.com. Android is pretty much open so other device users, do a Google search for “Device name + root” and you should find out how to root it.
If you can’t root your device, you can pay a $1 fee for the Logging Test App pro key on Android Market and uninstall Carrier IQ. However, that process may not always be successful.
The third option is to Flash a Custom ROM. Many Android devices run Custom ROMs or Android versions. To uninstall Carrier IQ, you might flash a custom ROM which will also require you to root your device. You can get details on Custom ROMs on Xda-Developers Forum or check CyanogenMod for a list of devices if you don’t want to go too deep.
How To Find And Block Carrier IQ On iOS
iOS hacker chpwn has discovered that CarrierIQ has been installed on iOS as early as version 3.1.3. Chpwn says it’s not as privacy violating as the Android versions and isn’t able to access typed text, web history, passwords, browsing history or text messages. For iOS users, CarrierIQ was enabled during the initial setup. So if you opted to send logs back to Apple, all you have to do now is go to Settings > About > Diagnostics & Usage, and change the setting to “Don’t send.”
If you’ve got any other method of getting rid of Carrier IQ, please leave us a comment
Source: TechCrunch
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