Sprint Educates Employees With Carrier IQ Related Internal Memo

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Another day and it looks like we have another tidbit in terms of Carrier IQ. And while this latest bit was not officially released by a carrier for the press, it is a memo coming from a carrier. That being said, while we believe this memo to be the real deal, it has come from unofficial sources.

With the standard sounding disclaimer out of the way, we can move onto the good stuff. It looks like Sprint is taking steps to ease the minds of customers in terms of what Carrier IQ is doing. Of course, Sprint using Carrier IQ is nothing of a surprise given they have already come forward and announced they were. Still, it is nice to see what they are doing with the details that your phone may be sending to them. Anyway, without any further adieu, here is the leaked internal Sprint memo;

Sprint & Carrier IQ Talking Points

Software developed by Carrier IQ is making the news and raising concerns over cell phone privacy. Media stories suggest Sprint and other wireless carriers are using Carrier IQ software to track the personal data of its customers even down to capturing keystrokes and button presses.

• Developed as a mobile analytics platform for carriers, Carrier IQ’s software can be found on most Android, BlackBerry and Nokia phones. It has not been confirmed whether Apple’s iPhones also carry the software.
• Sprint uses the Carrier IQ data to only understand device performance on our network so we can identify when issues are occurring.
• Even with Carrier IQ, Sprint does not and cannot look at or record contents of messages, photos, videos, etc. nor do we sell or provide a direct feed of Carrier IQ data to anyone outside of Sprint.
• Sprint’s privacy policy makes it clear we collect information that includes how a device is functioning and how it is being used so that we can maintain our network performance.

Bottom line here, and while I am fairly certain that many may disagree — this Carrier IQ business seems to be a bit overhyped. Me personally, I am more than OK with allowing Sprint (or in my case Verizon) to get usage data so they can better maintain and/or improve their network. Heck, this sounds fairly standard. After all, how many times have you installed software or an app that asked for permission to send data to help improve the user experience. For me, probably more times than I can count.