New Paranoid Android User

[NCAndroid76]

Hey everyone, my name is Jonathan and my wife and I just got our first smartphones (guess our old ones are dumbphones) and it seems the same week we did, was with the Carrier IQ debacle hit. So now I guess you could say the joy of getting some cool new phones (Samsung Infuse 4g) is replaced with a sense of paranoia and concern. I've read about the app that is suppose to remove it, but reading about it sounds like I'd need to be a computer programmer to get it working while possibly deleting everything on the phone, which if I delete Angry Birds, my wife might delete ME!

Being new to the forum and the world of smartphones and android OS, I could use all the advice on securing our phones, including what the best virus/spyware/malware apps there are that won't kill the battery. (Something I didn't even think of, nor was told about, that I'd have to worry about viruses and stuff getting on my phone!).

 

[lunatic59]

Hello and welcome to Android Forums!

The first thing to do is determine if Carrier IQ is on your phone. Intall Carrier IQ Detector | AppBrain Android Market and see if it is there.

I'd ask the folks in Samsung Infuse 4G - Android Forums how they are securing their phones. Frankly it's a bit of a tempest in a teapot. The media loves to grab a sensational headline and feed the paranoia of the tinfoil hat brigade. If you talk to any communication engineer, there's not much data that isn't being collected on networks since the phone companies went digital.

As far as viruses, don't download apps from questionable sites and don't give permission to anything you don't want to have permission and you should be fine without any virus scanners. You might want to consider an app to handle your data in the case that your phone is lost or stolen. That it a much more likely possibility.

 

[Rush]

Guide member Lunatic59 has posted some good links. I hope you find answers you're looking for. I hope this forum come useful to you. Enjoy.

 

[NCAndroid76]

Thanks guys. As suggested I downloaded the above app and it says IQ Carrier is not found on my phone, so I guess I dodged that bullet, perhaps. Thanks for the welcome!