Here are two articles from theconversation.edu.au you must read if you have a “smartphone.”

The collection and potential uses of your data is back in the news again. Saad Irfan

Paranoid Android: does Carrier IQ mean your phone is spying on you?

What can only be described as “growing consternation” has resulted from revelations by a developer, Trevor Eckhart, that a large number of mobile phones are secretly monitoring users’ actions on the phone and sending the data back to the phone provider.

The software, which has been dubbed “The Rootkit of All Evil” after both its secretive operations and the seemingly unlimited access it has on the phone, is produced by a company called Carrier IQ. Ostensibly, the software collects data that allows carriers and phone manufacturers to monitor how their phones are used, and detect problems and issues with the phones or the network.

But the capabilities of the software allow for much more, including the ability to record keystrokes and so perform a data logging function.

Although the software had been highlighted some time ago, the matter came to the public’s attention when Carrier IQ sent Eckhart a cease-and-desist letter threatening legal action if Eckhart didn’t retract his claims that the software was a “rootkit” and didn’t take down training manuals from his site that he had obtained publicly from Carrier IQ’s own site. Click here to continue.

Carrier IQ knows everything you do on your phone … but why?

Ever had the sense someone’s watching over your shoulder? Nick Chill Photography

What if you used your smartphone, knowing you might be sharing certain information, but had no idea what exactly was being shared? Or why you might be sharing it?

If you knew someone could be recording anything you’ve written, said or did; where you went; the applications you used and when; the websites you visit and how you tend to navigate to them?

According to tech bloggers across the web, this is now a reality courtesy of Carrier IQ.

Carrier IQ – a hidden embedded analytics program that developer Trevor Eckhart recently publicised – has been found inside potentially millions of smartphones ranging from Blackberry, to Google’s Android and even – as has been known for some time – Apple’s iOS.

You might think your phone activity is secure because it’s in “airplane mode”, but with Carrier IQ you might want to think again. Everything is potentially able to be logged and transmitted. But to where, exactly and why? No-one knows. To read this article in its entirety, click here.

Who is Carrier IQ? Click on the logo to be redirected to the Carrier IQ Website.