Is Your Smartphone Spying on You?

An Apple hacker has discovered that Carrier IQ, the shady smartphone software recently found to be logging keystrokes on Android and BlackBerry devices, is also installed on the iPhone, reports The Atlantic Wire.

Prominent iPhone jailbreaker "chpwn" discovered traces of the code on Thursday, after Android security researcher Trevor Eckhart dug into the code of his Google-made operating system to discover that Carrier IQ was recording tons of user data, even the contents of text messages, according to The Atlantic Wire.

Hacker blogs are referring to Carrier IQ as virtually undetectable software that provides privileged access to your data. It is not a new service. U.S. carriers like AT&T and Sprint demand the service for reasons such as improving their network. 

Sprint has defended Carrier IQ's aggressive data-collection practices, explaining that it was used "to understand the customer experience." 

That’s not just creepy, Paul Ohm, a former Justice Department prosecutor and law professor at the University of Colorado Law School, told Forbes. He thinks it’s also likely grounds for a class action lawsuit based on a federal wiretapping law.

Both device manufacturers and mobile carriers are starting to push back against reports that they collect data through Carrier IQ, who says their software is installed on over 140 million devices, but The Atlantic Wire guessing the scandal is just beginning.

On Thursday afternoon, Minnesota Senator Al Franken announced that he's demanded answers from Carrier IQ about their tracking user behavior in a very detailed letter (PDF) to the company's president and CEO Larry Lenhart.

Watch the video of Eckhart explaining how much data Carrier IQ has been collecting from Android devices.