Technology

Is the FBI Using Information Collected by Cell Phone ‘Spy’ Program?

Denied FOIA Request Raises Questions If FBI Uses Carrier IQ Information in Investigations | Carrier IQ Admits Bug Tracks Some Text MessagesThe saga continues over the privacy concerns of the data logging program Carrier IQ, which was recently found to be installed on more than 140 million smartphones.

Not only has Carrier IQ admitted to having a bug that could unintentionally track text messages — the company had maintained during the debacle that the program only tracked metrics like dropped calls and battery life, not keystrokes — but speculation of whether the FBI may use such information has emerged.

SlashGear reports that Muckrock filed a Freedom of Information Act request to the FBI and received a response that neither confirms nor denies the agency’s use of information collected by the program in investigations but it is a response that has raised eyebrows:

The Muckrock FOIA request asked the FBI for “manuals, documents or other written guidance used to access or analyze data gathered by programs developed or deployed by Carrier IQ.” In response, the FBI denied any disclosures stating that any information it revealed could jeopardize ongoing investigations. Muckrock is seeking to appeal the FBI’s decision.

Although the FBI’s statement doesn’t confirm that it has indeed been scanning the data collected by Carrier IQ in any of its law enforcement proceedings, it appears that they do have something on file that could either affect current legal cases involving the use of the data or affect the current investigation of Carrier IQ.

Forbes reports that the FBI denied the FOIA request because it “could reasonably be expected to interfere with law enforcement proceedings.”

At the same time, Carrier IQ has finally admitted that in some capacity, the software does log messages, which it had denied before. Slashgear obtained a Carrier IQ FAQ document that stated a flaw in the software could inadvertently allow it to track things like text messages.

Here’s what Carrier IQ said:

“Carrier IQ has discovered that, due to this bug, in some unique circumstances, such as a when a user receives an SMS during a call, or during a simultaneous data session, SMS messages may have unintentionally been included in the layer 3 signaling traffic that is collected by the IQ Agent. These messages were encoded and embedded in layer 3 signaling traffic and are not human readable.”

[...]

“Carrier IQ has never intentionally captured or transmitted keystrokes and is not aware of any circumstances where this has occurred” the company concludes, reiterating that it “is not a keylogger and no customer has asked Carrier IQ to capture key strokes.”

Slashgear goes on to report Carrier IQ as stating the potential for leaks that would cause privacy issues in these cases is slim. Read the full document for Understanding Carrier IQ Technology here.

Uproar over Carrier IQ emerged in late November when Trevor Eckhart posted on his blog two videos detailing how the program he found on an HTC smartphone was able to track several functions on the phone and was difficult to remove. After that, several smartphone providers admitted to using the program on their phones but only for performance tracking of the device. Even with Carrier IQ trying to assuage the privacy concerns of smartphone users, the software developer along with several phone providers have been issued a class action lawsuit for violating the Federal Wiretap Act, the Stored Electronic Communications Act and the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

Comments (52)

  • SHIPMONEY100TRILLION
    Posted on December 19, 2011 at 9:55am

    Keep your gun near incase you have a home invation.

    Report Post »  
  • Mauireman
    Posted on December 14, 2011 at 5:53pm

    Ron Paul would put a stop to this!

    Report Post » Mauireman  
  • TwoLazy
    Posted on December 14, 2011 at 8:41am

    Under the guise of SECURITY …. who was it that said … those who would trade their liberty for secuity deserve neither .. oh yeah Mr. Franklin, I think.

    These people go a bridge to far, what simply amazes me is those American citizens who go along for the ride.

    Government: get out of my life, get out of my wallet and get off my back.

    Report Post » TwoLazy  
  • Constantine Ivanov
    Posted on December 13, 2011 at 1:22pm

    To ESCAPE_FROM_SOCIALISM:
    if in 2011 you still have such a question as “what is or who is a terrorist?”, nobody can help you anymore: your disease is incurable.
    To me who lived under Commies 50 years, ther is no such question anymore: it’s crystal clear.

    Report Post » Constantine Ivanov  
    • Howsit
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 2:19pm

      I think his point was that you do not get to decide that you are not a terrorist. If you stand up to the tyranny, then they can label you whatever they want to. You, of all people, should know that you don’t want to give your government that kind of power.

      Report Post »  
    • Constantine Ivanov
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 2:56pm

      To HOWSIT:
      “you don’t want to give your government that kind of power,” you said.
      I agree completely. But…
      Who else can and will fight against terrorists, spies, and criminals? The answer is: We the People. Huh?
      How?
      Using agencies that have enough financial, material and human resources to fight. Agencies controlled by the nation.
      And who are those agencies?
      A Government.
      Therefore, the real issue is HOW we the People CONTROL the government.
      It’s very easy to yell “down with the Government!”
      It’s a lot more difficult to live without it: anarchy never brought anything good to anybody, except for thugs.
      So, the issue is not to “handcuff” those who fight against our enemies.
      The issue is how make those actual people be trusted and controlled.

      Report Post » Constantine Ivanov  
    • Howsit
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 5:15pm

      That‘s why there are appropriate channels necessary to infringe on a person’s right to privacy. Criminals give up that right by committing crimes, but regular people should not. It is too bad that the laws in place to protect our citizens have been so distorted to protect the criminals.

      Report Post »  
  • Constantine Ivanov
    Posted on December 13, 2011 at 12:58pm

    I am wondering how a society wants to protect itself from criminals and terrorists if all investigation and counter-terror agencies are denied any means to track down, trace, follow, and watch criminals and terrorists.
    “Handcuffing” those agencies is a perfect example of insanity if Liberasts (even though some of those Liberasts-in-their-soul call themselves Republicans or Conservatives.)
    If I, for instance, have no connections to any criminals and terrorists, why should I be worried?

    Report Post » Constantine Ivanov  
  • schroeder123
    Posted on December 13, 2011 at 12:12pm

    I would imagine if you called the middle east, your phone call would be tracked. But, unless your a criminal with a past record, I wouldn’t be too concerned.

    Report Post » schroeder123  
    • Clare Clare
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 3:37pm

      Wait a minute, why should my phone call be tracked if I call the Middle East? There’s nothing intrinsically illegal about calling that part of the world, and it is done by zillions (pardon my exact figures) of law-abiding people every year for totally legitimate, non-terrorist reasons. My point is, NO EXCEPTIONS–this whole notion of phone-tracking, without law enforcement first obtaining court orders giving them permission to do so, is totally unacceptable!

      Report Post »  
    • Salamander
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 8:24pm

      I hate to tell you, but even if WE don’t track it, there are others out there who do! So, would you rather have US keep an eye on things (and an ear on the ground), or just let OTHERS know what we don’t? What do you think all those Russian trawlers were doing over the years, fishing?

      Report Post »  
  • NotaLemming
    Posted on December 13, 2011 at 11:55am

    Hey folks Somehow the Mains stream media missed this one about Citizen Surveillance. Where do you think this data is being stored and WHO has access to it?

    CIFA: Spying on American Citizens continues under eGardian
    http://yourdaddy.net/2011/12/08/cifa-spying-on-american-citizens-continues-under-egardian/

    Report Post » NotaLemming  
  • Ohio Guy
    Posted on December 13, 2011 at 11:11am

    So ready to give up my cell phone. I am da@n near ready to unplug from all useless technology. That being said this Christmas my kids will be receiving Kindles. Lets just say that my family is not on board with the whole unplugging thing.

    Report Post » Ohio Guy  
  • Dismayed Veteran
    Posted on December 13, 2011 at 11:10am

    Before everyone gets too paranoid, stop and think a minute. If the government is really listening to every single cell phone call, imagine the total amount of information they would have. It is too much. It is information overload. Too much information creates a hay stack when you are looking for a needle.

    Some of you may recognize my avatar. It is the US Army branch insignia for Military Intelligence. I was a Special Agent 43 years ago. The intelligence cycle is acquisition, analysis, interpretation, action. It is the same as the USAF OODA loop. If you have too much raw data, analysis gets bogged down. This happened prior to 9/11. Intelligence was available that strongly showed a coordinated attack by aircraft. The intellingence apparatus was overloaded and couldn’t confirm.

    ELINT and SIGINT are designed to check data for key words to try to cut through the huge pile of data.

    Do you really think the government is concerned with you calling your wife in Walmat to find out what aisle she is in? Or, your college kid hitting you up for money?

    I personally opposed to tracking because I believe it violates my constitutional right against illegal search.

    I also recognize that I voluntarily put in writing on this site, comments that are not friendly to the current administration and it’s policies. I also voluntarily describe my preparations in the event of a disaster to include my willingness to defend myself. I recognize the exposure is public.

    Report Post » Dismayed Veteran  
    • 408 CheyTac
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 11:55am

      well, they want access to all your credit card and transaction invoicing information from Walmart. What in the world would ever make you think they didn’t want to know exactly what you are texting on the way there? Your opinion shows a definite naïveté. The one single constant we can establish in this modern “information society” is that any time any government agency is given any opportunity for any form of surveillance that will push that opportunity to the extreme. Whether it’s needed or not, necessary or not, or the subject is involved in any form of illicit activity, the government wants every bit of information they can gather.

      If you have come to realize that you’re hopelessly lost.

      Report Post »  
    • schroeder123
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 12:08pm

      Good thinking.

      Report Post » schroeder123  
    • GhostOfJefferson
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 12:12pm

      Agreed in part, and yes, you’re wearing the squashed bug. :)

      That said, information analysis technology is far more advanced than it was even in the 1980′s. They don’t have to know every word you say, ever word you type, they simply have to pre-vett the information through filtering algorithms. Given the advances in AI components since the 1990′s, it’s not terribly difficult to do any longer. Look no further than public presence face-recognition technology. That’s a pantload more information to process, correlate and flag than simple texts, which are *way* easier to analyze (index keyword search).

      They probably can’t do the whole nation, as you say, but if they want to target specific groups of any given number, that seems quite possible now.

      Report Post » GhostOfJefferson  
    • Howsit
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 12:27pm

      They don’t monitor the information in real time. When you become an enemy of the state they then go back through everything you have ever posted, texted, or said to prove your sedition and justify silencing you.

      Report Post »  
    • M 4 Colt
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 2:42pm

      408, i don’t know if you know this or not but under Obama care they will have TOTAL access to ALL YOUR BANK INFORMATION! This means credit cards checking accounts, savings accounts and any CD you may have. Now my question is what in the he ll does my bank information have to do with my health care. Oh one more thing i don’t know if you have been to your doctors office in the past year but now your doctor is required by our government to collect ALL YOU HEALTH CARE INFORMATION and forward it to a government server, you know for safe keeping, ya right more like for easy access by the death panels to decide that your too old to receive that life saving treatment because it costs too much.

      Report Post »  
    • Dismayed Veteran
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 3:12pm

      Thank you for the input. I mean that sincerely. I am not sarcastic.

      I suspect that anyone who posts on this site on a regular basis is already on a watchlist. I am confident that anyone who had the words Obama, President, POTUS and dead in the same paragraph is on a list. The same for anyone who had 2nd Amendent in a paragraph. Anyone writing” I am stocking up and going off the radar, just entered their name on the watchlist”.

      In this day and age, there is volumes of information much of it crosslinked. The point I was trying to make is that “they” have to be very sure that a person is a threat before committing human assets. Human assets are limited and often not crosslinked. Think ICE, FBI, DEA, AFT, SS, CIA. They step on each others johnsons on a regular basis.

      Report Post » Dismayed Veteran  
  • liberty_for_all
    Posted on December 13, 2011 at 11:01am

    Unintentional? Really?

    Why do we keep questioning whether the ‘establishment’ has [or takes advantage of] the capabilities of tracking our every move? My theory is that many of the movies or shows that come out which feature technologically advanced electronics and things like these (ie Eagle Eye, Mission Impossible, etc), are not based on fictional possibilities. They can do far more than we give them credit for.

    Report Post »  
  • Cynic-clinic
    Posted on December 13, 2011 at 11:01am

    If people are so upset about smartphone tracking devices, why aren’t they upset about keyloggers on home computers and laptops. Those things are just as intrusive. Get rid of all of them.

    Report Post »  
    • liberty_for_all
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 11:03am

      But we need to protect our citizens (sarcasm). The government cares so much about our security and should be trusted at all costs.

      Report Post »  
  • ares338
    Posted on December 13, 2011 at 10:52am

    I do not want or need a smart phone. I will keep my dumb phone. I don’t need the Internet, GPS or Angry Birds on my phone. JUST A PHONE!

    Report Post » ares338  
    • JRook
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 11:00am

      Ah so the program logs information and profiles the use. Much the same as the 22 plus third party cookies loaded by the blaze site when you log on. Perhaps they will tell their loyal fans how much revenue they receive for allowing the companies to collect information on their users.

      Report Post »  
    • Captain Crunch
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 11:51am

      @JRook

      So thats why it takes a minute or more for one of the Blaze pages to load. I know it’s not my 10mb/s connection. This is the only website I have those lengthly delays with.

      Report Post »  
    • JRook
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 3:22pm

      @Captain Crunch That is correct sir and why your connection light is flashing even when you are not doing anything active. The third party cookies are sending information back to their profiling host.

      Report Post »  
  • Eliasim
    Posted on December 13, 2011 at 10:35am

    Oh by the way, I’m not just fabricating. If you search the archives of Popular Mechanics magazines or Popular Science you may find the articles they published about possible computers that track phone-call key words for a very long time.

    Report Post »  
  • Eliasim
    Posted on December 13, 2011 at 9:54am

    Well of course they do. But, before they had that they had computers designed to pick up on certain key-words for oh some 30 years when we spoke on the phone. And now they track us on computers, and heck I bet they even bug appliances.

    Report Post »  
    • Eliasim
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 9:58am

      As a matter of fact, it’s probably because of all the phone conversations they have listened to for thirty years that they are so afraid of the American people, and want to control us more.

      Report Post »  
    • GhostOfJefferson
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 10:53am

      Hence the reason for onion routing, freenet and it’s extremely secure darknet feature (as long as everybody in your darknet is a personal close friend and thus trusted).

      There’s always a way around this crap, but it takes a bit more effort than “blind trust in others”.

      Report Post » GhostOfJefferson  
    • Eliasim
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 11:05am

      GhostOfJefferson,
      I don’t want to get around it, and criminals try to “Get around” things. I want them to stop! And you will only “Get around it” for so long because they are the government.

      Report Post »  
    • Eliasim
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 11:09am

      GhostOfJefferson,
      You have just displayed the very pool of fundamental corruption that is a perception of many, which is the same pool that our politicians are taken from.

      Report Post »  
    • Eliasim
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 11:10am

      It’s not a game, do you understand that?

      Report Post »  
    • GhostOfJefferson
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 12:17pm

      Explain to me how I’m fundamentally corrupt.

      If you labor under the pretense that we’re governed by the Constitution any longer, you’re clearly not awake.

      We SHOULD be, but the reality is that they ignore the Constitution at will and we have no way short of revolution to stop them. So you’re left with a given set of options – get around their attemps, or fight their attempts directly with force of arms.

      I’m *way* more Constitutionally inclined that most on this site. I’m simply telling you that the government is not. You can evade that as you wish from a perception wise, but it doesn’t change the fact.

      Criminals evade a government in its pursuit of rule of law, which is why they’re criminals. When government goes against rule of law, to evade government at that point is a moral imperative. Put another way, I‘d have been a stop on the route of the underground railroad in the 1800’s. Those who cannot bring themselves to go around a lawless government, on the other hand, would not have been.

      Report Post » GhostOfJefferson  
  • gdbhusker
    Posted on December 13, 2011 at 9:42am

    I have been labeled a hopeless “conspiracy theorist” for 15 years…. These things that the Government does, is in an effort to take away your freedom!. THE GOVERNMENT DOES NOT LIKE YOU!!!!! you are a check to it’s power……it is not rocket science people..the fuzzy love that you have of your government is social manipulation…. they rob your wealth, steal your money, tear you down and build others up in your place…..this world is headed into a one world government whether you think I am crazy or not… and it is being put in place by the US and European’s….cashless society, remember when THAT was a conspiracy and everyone said it would never happen. now hardly anyone carries it… world gun laws….the US is the last hold out on that ( fast and furious was an attempt to kill the 2nd amendment )…..NAto and the US involved in EVERY single country around the world….internet kill switches, a law on the floor to call American citizens “enemy combatants” and strip you of all rights,presidents continually breaking the laws of the Constitution without punishment, etc… I could go on forever…..it is not a conspiracy.. it is just LIFE…. Wake up Lemmings!!!

    Report Post » gdbhusker  
    • Eliasim
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 9:57am

      They’ve been doing it for a long time. Haven’t you felt their presents when even you speak on the phone for the longest time? That’s why only a fool speaks of their promising innovations for their company on the phone.

      Report Post »  
    • Ruler4You
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 10:20am

      Government has been collecting your information for many decades. I worked for a company where it was their job to collect ALL broadcast information. Period. AND ALL traceable commerce transactions. Anything carried in the air waves “IS” in the public domain, as government defines it. With the exception of certain military and ‘government’ frequencies.

      Cell phones use a portion of the bandwidth considered ‘Public Air’ and therefore may be monitored, intercepted and analyzed and interpreted for actionable content.

      Report Post » Ruler4You  
  • The patriot.
    Posted on December 13, 2011 at 9:36am

    It seems that just about everything that is electronic can now be used to gather information about you for the government. So I guess the only people that the government can’t get information on our the Amish and after the collapse will all be living like the Amish

    Report Post »  
    • UrbanCombatSurvivor
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 10:04am

      And the next question to ask: HOW are they gathering it all?

      Google got at least 3 “classified” Department of Defense contracts in recent years. Suddenly, Google no longer has a bunch of law suits against them, and their algorithms start changing noticeably.

      Report Post »  
    • GhostOfJefferson
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 10:04am

      Most whizz bang electronic stuff we think we need, we don’t. I really don’t get the idea of the chains we insist on putting on ourselves, all the while complaining that we’re wearing chains. Turn off the texters, leave them at home, they’re making us stupid and they are *BLOODY USELESS*. Turn off the cells except for where work requires, and set up your answering machines and deal with not being in contact 24/7/365. You will not believe the peace, serenity and, *gasp!*, real world that exists outside of the little electronic prison we want to lock ourselves in.

      It‘s not like we’re working under the Constitution any longer, so the point of “unconstitutional search!”, which is correct in a constutional republic, don’t apply. The only option then is withdrawing from the system that allows such easy searches.

      Report Post » GhostOfJefferson  
  • MaxineH20Sux
    Posted on December 13, 2011 at 9:34am

    I am probably the only one who has a caveman cell phone! Mine makes only calls! No internet hooked up to it, just a simple flip phone. I also love my $69.99/mo bill :-)

    Report Post » MaxineH20Sux  
    • MaxineH20Sux
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 9:35am

      And that is for a family plan with 3 phones and no texting. I sm so old school and simple!

      Report Post » MaxineH20Sux  
    • GimmieGimmie
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 10:23am

      You’re paying too much. Just sayin.

      Report Post »  
  • objectivetruth
    Posted on December 13, 2011 at 9:30am

    Cell phone usage is easily trackable.Not just by law enforcement either.It also has a tendency to cross channel.I’m not sure if that is the right legal term for it.Ever pick up someone elses phone conversation unintentionally.Many people in the infancy of cell phone usage did.This was enough for most of us familiar with the problem to not use a cell phone for casual conversation.
    Anything that a company can use to track you can be used by law enforcement criminals and the eos for tracking as well.There is an answer to it though.Simply stop dealing with companies who tout these features.Deal only with companies who display there policies concerning the same up front.If you have to dig and delve make phone calls to discover it then consider that company nefarious.

    Report Post »  
    • GhostOfJefferson
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 9:36am

      The days of unencrypted cell phone useage are long past. Nobody is going to hear you accidently.

      Report Post » GhostOfJefferson  
  • YoungBloodNews
    Posted on December 13, 2011 at 9:24am

    Smart power?

    Report Post » YoungBloodNews  
  • Mandors
    Posted on December 13, 2011 at 9:23am

    They’ve been doing this for years. Just try saying something like “bomb” or “explosive” or “blow up” on your cellphone. You’ll be hearing some interesting things in the background for the next month or so.

    Report Post » Mandors  
    • HorseCrazy
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 12:09pm

      so true. the key word logging has been going on for years

      Report Post »  
  • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
    Posted on December 13, 2011 at 9:17am

    With the current administration manipulating and transforming society to a government tyranny; the answer has to be yes.

    Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
    • WakingSheep
      Posted on December 13, 2011 at 12:18pm

      Ha! the current administration!
      Pretty sure the Bush admin gave us the Patriot Act. Not to mention the just passed through congress National Defense Authorization Act. It passed with 97-3 vote.
      The GOP and DEMS are in the same boat now. The only way out is to look for the Constitution.

      Ron Paul 2012!

      Report Post »  

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