“Where are the WSJ, Financial Times, New York Times front page stories? Where are the hourly CNBC regurgitations of this shocking news? Where are the worldwide bloggers and other pundits that were so loud and quick to expose the evil Apple empire for ‘Locationgate’ (a quickly fixed software bug, that would not drop past cell tower locations you connected to in order to improve service, that was quickly addressed and fixed by Apple with no harm to users and with no realistic privacy or security issues)?” Apple Fanboy asks.
“How is there not a ten-fold response to the recent news that Google and others (Nokia and RIM) have software running on millions of their devices that record your every keystroke? Your text messages, your phone numbers, basically every single thing you do on your smartphone!” Apple Fanboy writes. “Where are the members of Congress rushing to hold a press conference demanding answers for what has recently been revealed? AL FRANKEN! PAGING AL FRANKEN!”
“Ohh, wait a second, it turns out Apple was not included in this latest report,” Apple Fanboy explains. “No news here. Yeah no need to make a big deal out of this… Sure Apple’s “Locationgate” was a little pimple compared to this, but apparently there are strict reporting guidelines and fact checking that needs to be accomplished before rushing to judgement on this one! Congress has bigger issues to worry about this time.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “JB” for the heads up.]
Related articles:
Video shows secret software on millions of Android, BlackBerry, and Nokia phones logging everything you do – November 30, 2011
France still investigating Apple iOS location data – August 4, 2011
South Korea fines Apple $2,855 over location data – August 3, 2011
Apple pays South Korean iPhone user 1 million won over iPhone location data collection – July 14, 2011
U.S. Senate Democrats Franken, Blumenthal introduce mobile privacy bill – June 15, 2011
U.S. Senate Democrat Rockefeller: Totally unregulated apps have to be regulated – May 20, 2011
U.S. Senate Democrat Leahy introduces electronic communications privacy bill – May 18, 2011
Apple, Google, and Facebook to face 2nd U.S. Senate hearing on May 19 – May 17, 2011
Apple open to lawsuit over location data collection – May 11, 2011
Apple sued again over location data; lawsuit claims Apple intentionally intercepted personal info – May 11, 2011
Apple, Google detail mobile privacy policies before US Senate subcommittee – May 10, 2011
Recap of Apple and Google’s testimony before Senator Al Franken’s mobile privacy hearing – May 10, 2011
Apple, Google to face U.S. Senator Al Franken’s subcommittee in mobile privacy hearing – May 9, 2011
Apple’s Bud Tribble to testify in U.S. Senator Al Franken’s Judiciary Subcommittee hearings on mobile privacy – May 6, 2011
Apple and Google head to Washington D.C. for hearing – May 6, 2011
Apple releases iOS 4.3.3, crowd-sourced location database cache – May 4, 2011
Apple, Google set to testify at U.S. Congressional hearing on location data to begin May 10th – May 2, 2011
Steve Jobs: Apple isn’t tracking anyone; looks forward to testifying before Congress – April 27, 2011
Apple releases Q&A on Location Data: ‘Apple is not tracking the location of your iPhone’ – April 27, 2011
U.S. Senate Democrat Franken to hold mobile privacy hearing; Apple, Google summoned – April 26, 2011
Illinois Attorney General Madigan requests meeting with Apple, Google – April 25, 2011
Apple sued for privacy invasion, computer fraud over iOS location data collection, storage – April 25, 2011
Steve Jobs on iOS location tracking: We don’t track anyone, but Droid does – April 25, 2011
Apple iPhone collects location info even when location services are turned off by user – April 25, 2011
Android phones regularly transmit location data to Google ‘at least several times an hour’ – April 22, 2011
House Democrat questions legality of Apple’s iPhone, iPad location tracking – April 21, 2011
Apple’s iOS location tracking file caused by a bit of unfinished code? – April 21, 2011
U.S. Senator Al Franken demands answers from Apple’s Steve Jobs over iPhone tracking – April 21, 2011
Expert: iPhone tracking story is nothing new and Apple is not collecting the data – April 21, 2011
‘untrackerd’ jailbreak utility blocks iOS from storing recorded iPhone location data – April 21, 2011
Apple’s iPhone tracks everywhere you go; stores the info in secret file on the device – April 20, 2011
Wait, what, the media has biases and double standards?
Whodathunkit?
And, never mind about Senator Al Franken, where’s Senator Daffy Duck?
You’re thinking of Senator Foghorn Leghorn
“I say, that is. I say them Android people are okay but about as sharp as a bag full of wet mice. The media’s got a mouth like a cannon, always shootin’ it off. And I’m just a loud-mouthed schnook..”
Yeah just like MDN has biases and has double standards. Is anyone shocked?
Pretty weird and desperate to take this as a chance to attack Franken. Big, serious, nearly fatal flaw in this website- KEEP THE DAMN POLITICS OUT!
Not so fast – traces of Carrier IQ have been found in iOS:
http://www.theverge.com/2011/11/30/2601875/carrier-iq-references-discovered-apple-ios-iphone
Hey, troll. Get back under your bridge.
Carrier IQ on iOS ★
Good investigative work by Grant “chpwn” Paul. iOS includes a Carrier IQ daemon, but it doesn’t seem to log any particularly sensitive information. Nothing like a keylogger or reading SMS messages. He’s documenting his research on Twitter as he goes.
UPDATE: Worth noting that it appears that nothing gets submitted to Carrier IQ if you opt-out with the “Send Automatically” switch in Settings → General → About → Diagnostics & Usage. That’s deep inside Settings, but Apple prompts you for that setting during iOS 5 device setup, too.
(From Daring Fireball)
Did you even read that story?
It says that Carrier IQ software is only turned on in iPhones during select times, not all of the time as in Android phones. Other articles report that Carrier IQ software are ‘permanent’ and can’t be removed or disabled from many Android phones.
From your link, troll:
In a blog post, chpwn confirms that, based on his initial testing, Apple has added some form of Carrier IQ software to all versions of iOS, including iOS 5. However, the good news is that it does not appear to actually send any information so long as a setting called DiagnosticsAllowed is set to off, which is the default. Finally, the local logs on iOS seem to store much less information than what has been seen on Android, limited to some call activity and location (if enabled), but not any text from the web browser, SMS, or anywhere else.
Apple’s not involved, therefore I see little promise in the way of press coverage. It’s not even worth doing a press release.
This sounds like a job for a real U.S. Senator.
Bloomberg reported it as being on all smart phones this morning.
Apple is a brightly lit phenomenon, so any news, especially something that might tarnish the aura makes headlines. Android, et al, exist more in the periphery of public consciousness.
The Huffington post version of this story, although showing an htc with it, is linked from their main page with an image which features an iPhone. Otherwise, I’m sure, fewer people would follow the link.
… involved, the vast majority of the visitors to this site (including ME) get defensive … and a bit nasty. We tell Al Franken that a) he’s wrong and b) yer a faker! Well … some of us. So he backs off a bit. Now he dodges a similar trap, partly because he has bigger fish to fry (right, Tea Baggers?), so now you are all up-tight about THAT? Maybe you are more upset by the efforts of a liberal than you are about what he may have said – or not – about Apple and its competitors?
Following the recent reports about members of Congress trading in the stocks of companies their legislation affects, perhaps there’s more to this story than meets the eye.
Carrier IQ, Shmarrier IQ.
More to the point, Apple Fanboy’s website was made with iWeb:
http://www.applefanboy.com/Apple_Fanboy/Home_Page/Home_Page.html
iWeb is great.
Sadly, iWeb is now on death row, discontinued by Apple.
Where is the outrage for iWeb? The petitions? The stay of execution?
SAVE iWEB!
DO NOT LET iWeb DIE!
OCCUPY iWEB!
Love iWeb, Starting petition now! Email Tim Cook.
Oh Aaaaaaaaaaaaaal, show us how concerned you really are turkey!
“Dr Hackenbush, paging Dr Hackenbush…”
Maybe the govt will react if this turns out to be a REAL problem, not an OMFG conspiracy theory by macdailynews.com. Grow a pair and deal with it. Sheesh, My phone is probably tracking me right now. Yeah? So are cookies! and session tokens! Go hide under your bed already.
Dear Glenn,
The “conspiracy theory” originated at AppleFanboy.com.
Quotation marks have meaning. Learn how to read.
If there is weird software running on your purchased device then demand the manufacturer/carrier to explain its existence then remove it. The feds have bigger problems to deal with than with some rootkit that private companies willfully installed on their products.
just because you are a simpleton, it doesn’t mean everyone else is.
have fun reveling in your tiny minded worldview while the rest of us stay engaged and concerned with the rights and wrongs of the world.
The senator has filed for a response. There, you happy now The feds have intervened in a private company doing business with other private companies. I don’t normally comment here because it’s an intense wingnutosphere on this site but I had to point out the hypocrisy of people wanting government to ignore risky business but subsidize the clean-up. Don’t take my indifference as being myopic. I just know (from experience) when the right time is to push the Panic Button, instead of knee-jerk spamming it. Cheers.
So it’s OK with you if Carrier IQ records your banking ID and password and sends it off to God knows where, presumably in the clear? This is not in the same universe as cookie tracking.
Just don’t bring your phone with you when you “Hide under your bed” You won’t remain hidden for long Glenn.
Anyone questioning the qualifications of Senator Smalley need only look at the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee meeting videos with Google. I have a link to the first on my site. It’s embarrassing how little the people who represent our interests know about technology.
Yes I use iWeb and I am emailing Apple frequently to save it.
With regard to CarrierIQ the amount/type of info being collected and stored is very troubling.
Why?!? Cuz no one gives a f*ck about Android. And only poor dirtbags that nobody gives a shit about use the derivative crap. That’s why!
There’s a shot of irony in here someplace. Apple fans calling for a federal investigation on behalf of Android fans who are wishing CarrierGate away?!
I was enjoying that one, too. But it’s actually just another way for them to take potshots at Congress from the cheap seats. If there is an investigations, don’t worry, they’ll pan that, too.
The faux conservatives who sermonize, moralize, and rant on here in safe anonymity are just overcompensating for the distress of having tiny appendages.
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True as far as it goes. May I remind you that although anonymity may cloak cowardice, it serves other purposes? Some may use it to try out new personalities. Some may use it to preserve a meaningful social life while avoiding stalkers. Some are double-blind crowdsourcing. 😉
You’re right: like any tool, both good and bad uses and users…
Hey, nice. An Apple “fanboy” providing me with an opportunity to prove I can pee further: I’ve been using Macs since 1989, currently own and use a 27″ iMac, a MacBook, 2 iPhones (don’t ask), an iPod Touch and an iPad. However I hate when some show their ignorance and not check facts before they post.
(Sorry, that was a reply to a post that has been deleted. Please ignore or delete).
Not a problem, young’en.
But 89? Only 1989? I’ve been using Apple computers since my first Apple II and still have a running Mac Plus, 7100 and Powerbook 160 from 1992 (93?) in the house.
Now get off my lawn!
🙂
🙂
1992. You know, you really should clean house. Or start a museum! : )
From Senator Franken office:
http://www.minnpost.com/devinhenry/2011/12/01/33510/franken_questions_firm_tracking_smartphone_users
Franken, the chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and Law, wrote a letter to Carrier IQ president and CEO Larry Lenhart on Thursday demanding further answers, specifically details on what exactly the software tracks and where that information goes.
“I understand the need to provide usage and diagnostic information to carriers. I also understand that carriers can modify Carrier IQ’s software. But it appears that Carrier IQ’s software captures a broad swath of extremely sensitive information from users that would appear to have nothing to do with diagnostics — including who they are calling, the contents of the texts they are receiving, the contents of their searches, and the websites they visit,” Franken wrote.
“These actions may violate federal privacy laws, including the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. This is potentially a very serious matter.”
Franken asked the company to respond by Dec. 14.
And so it begins.
Thanks, Lazlo.
That’s right, where are the Apple hating bloggers, quackery analysts, self-serving politicians, and corrupt bureaucrats? I believe they are too busy planning and plotting on how to turn the data-center jobs and Grand Central Station rent issues into the next Apple problem-gates.
Al Franken really shouldn’t be blamed for not acting on this carrier IQ story, considering he has very little to do with anything IQ related.
Really? I think he’s a comedic genius, now go away.
comedic genius…well he IS funny.
Genius, let’s save that word for those who work at an apple store.
worthwhile politician=NO
staying for as long as I like.
heh.
Sorry, robots. Franken has directly addressed this situation. You can all get your Reagan panties untwisted.
Despite all the knee-jerk histrionics by the resident neocons at MDN, Senator Al Franken has actually proven himself to have far more integrity than 99% of his colleagues. The fact that he has demanded answers from Carrier IQ will thankfully shut a few of you up.
There are no flies on Frank(en)
“thankfully shut a few of you up”
But that’ll ruin my entertainment! And it’s as likely as stopping the rain…
It’s Generation Y’s turn to try stopping it. From what I’ve seen, they may have a shot.
“Hope springs eternal!” Some of us, including me, are just ‘infernal optimists.’ 😆
It would appear CarrierIQ software is only on sprint and AT&T phones.
Verizon has stated they dont use it. I am on a custom rom but i tore apart the stock android rom for three phones from verizon, 2.2 to 2.3.4 gingerbread. No trace of carrier IQ in any of them.
Google has also stated the official android distro does not contain it, neither does the official nexxus phone.
My buddy has an htc droid with sprint and his phone was running it.
Waiting for MDN’s update and/or retraction (that will never come).