Carrier IQ row prompts draft legislation on mobile privacy
Congressman Ed Markey (pictured) says the Mobile Device Privacy Act would also require companies to get the express consent of phone users before monitoring begins. A copy of the draft legislation can be found here.
Markey says: “Consumers have the right to know and to say no to the presence of software on their mobile devices that can collect and transmit their personal and sensitive information.”
In publishing the draft, Markey referred to Carrier IQ, whose software has been accused of logging button presses, the contents of text messages and the addresses of websites visited by users – all without their permission.
The company has denied recording any of this information, stating on numerous occasions that its software only measures and summarises the performance of mobile devices.
Markey asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Carrier IQ’s software in December.
We hope you enjoyed this article.
Research Live is published by MRS.
The Market Research Society (MRS) exists to promote and protect the research sector, showcasing how research delivers impact for businesses and government.
Members of MRS enjoy many benefits including tailoured policy guidance, discounts on training and conferences, and access to member-only content.
For example, there's an archive of winning case studies from over a decade of MRS Awards.
Find out more about the benefits of joining MRS here.
2 Comments
Sarah
13 years ago
As many have stated, this might not be the complete solution to the problem of services like Carrier IQ, but it is definitely a step in the right direction. It's great that lawmakers are creating legislation intended to give more visibility to the consumer. Sarah Mosaic Technology http://www.mosaictec.com
Like Reply Report
sanchanim
13 years ago
Sprint is now going with Smith Micro. Trevor Eckhart has a back room affiliation with them. He will be subpenaed to court and dissected, then arrested for corporate espionage! Verizon and Apple have products that do exactly the same thing. So really nothing has changed, not that I felt Carrier IQ was spyware. It was not implemented properly by HTC. Trevor's days are numbered now that they know about the lies. He better find a deep hole ti hide in!
Like Reply Report