No doubt with the flood of info we’re exposed to every day this has faded a bit, but CarrierIQ’s software was on many cell phones and was being used (supposedly) only to monitor network quality/droppage issues.

Well, Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) who wanted an investigation of CarrierIQ back then has drafted a bill designed to force carriers or those selling the phones into disclosing the capabilities of software to monitor (“and for any other purpose”) the consumer.

Nathan Tsui at Neowin.net felt that this was a bit of overkill because of investigations by the F.T.C. and the F.C.C.

I disagree with him for this reason: The CarrierIQ software (and who knows how many other programs) were on the hardware until discovered. I would like to see preemptive measures taken, and not have to rely on someone stumbling over such software randomly.

Rep. Markey’s draft can be viewed in pdf form here: http://markey.house.gov/sites/markey.house.gov/files/documents/Mobile%20Device%20Privacy%20Act%20--%20Rep.%20Markey%201-30-12_0.pdf

Source:

http://www.neowin.net/news/new-federal-bill-drafted-in-response-to-carrier-iq-privacy-concerns