HTC Sneaks Spying App into Android 2.3.4 Phones

[quest7]

Looks like HTC has quietly slipped its users a spying app that tracks an alarming amount of user behavior and sends that data off to itself and perhaps others via a mysterious service in the cloud. The snooping app came nestled with the 2.3.4 Android update pushed out to some of its smartphones such as the Sensation 4G and EVO 4G.

HTC Sneaks Spying App into Android 2.3.4 Phones - HotHardware

 

[BabyBlues]

Quite interesting. Sneaky and underhanded regardless of the legalities of it. So grateful that Team Synergy found it and nixed it.

 

[Stuntman]

This is the original article: Are Your HTC Sensation and EVO 3D Watching You?

I've been looking through the comments to this article. Some of the comments say that the spy app is actually from Sprint as it is present on a number of Sprint Android phones and not exclusive to HTC phones.

 

[cds0699]

This is a good post by k0nane regarding CIQ

Hi, I'm k0nane, and I removed Carrier IQ on the Epic 4G - the first device from which CIQ was ever removed. Carrier IQ is /NOT/ a part of Android, Sense, or anything HTC - it's a third-party spyware package installed on Sprint Android devices, at the behest of Sprint.

CIQ's exact function is controversial. I published my findings here;
http://forum.xda-developers.co...

Without being a part of Sprint or Carrier IQ, I can't ascertain its exact functions. However, having looked at the decompiled code, I can tell you that it hooks into a heck of a lot more than Sprint would ever want to admit. Its 'metrics' dig into every keypress, every touch of the screen, every HTTP data request, every application used, every SMS sent or received... the list goes on. A fellow developer once called it a "mutant many-legged spider".

I'm not familiar with the "new" functions referenced in this piece, but the ability to check users' locations and applications used has been around at least since the implementation in EB13 on the Epic 4G.

/x-posted to BGR/

 

[indybail]

"Smart Cards" like the AMEX Blue have been doing this all along (especially in Asia). Is it surprising smart phones are following?