
So, this has been causing a bit of a major dungstorm - and rightly so. As it turns out, many carriers are installing a piece of non-removable privacy-invading spyware on their smartphones
called CarrierIQ. It doesn't matter whether you have a
webOS, Android, BlackBerry or iOS device - carriers install it on all of them. Luckily though, it would appear it really depends on your carrier - smartphones in The Netherlands, for instance, are not infested with CarrierIQ.
Update: As John Gruber
rightfully points out, ever so verbosely, the headline here isn't particularly well-chosen. The article makes all this clear, but the headline doesn't. It's my birthday today, so my head wasn't totally in it - my apologies!
Update II: Just got a statement from an HP spokesperson: "HP does not install nor authorize its partners to embed Carrier IQ on its webOS devices."
Member since:
2005-08-22
Do people forget ? It's not like they are the only ones to do that.
Just install "Little snitch" on your Mac. You'll be surprised how many software phone back (including the system).
WebOS sends a ton of information to HP, you need to crack the phone to disable the feature. iOS and Android collect wifi data points and send them to the vendors.
Cell carriers store your cell locations.
All your mails are stored by Google, Hotmail or your ISP. Even if you delete them they are kept around to comply to US law.
Search engines like Google and Bing keep a history of your search and can easily find out who you are in terms of preferences.
AD businesses like Google, Facebook, .. are present on a vast majority of pages and can thus track you even outside of their site.
Did I forget something ? It's almost impossible to avoid all these traps and it requires a lot of effort.