
File this one under the category: "We All Saw This Coming."
It seems Apple has been named in a brand new class-action lawsuit related to the Carrier IQ scandal that sent mobile privacy advocates and smartphone users alike into a frenzy in recent days.
The Carrier IQ software is what's known as a rootkit that is installed at a carrier’s request on mobile phones. Carrier IQ raises user privacy concerns because it runs in the background and monitors and logs user activity. Carrier IQ is believed to be installed on more than 100 million devices around the world.
The lawsuit in question was filed by Delaware-based Sianni & Straite LLP and, in addition to Apple, it targets HTC, Samsung and Motorola, not to mention heavyweight carriers like AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile. The lawsuit alleges an "unprecedented breach in the digital privacy rights of 150 million cell phone users."
AT&T and Sprint - two iPhone carriers in the U.S. - claim the Carrier IQ software and its collected data are only used as a means to "improve service performance." As MMi reported last week, Apple said in response to the "scandal" that it "stopped supporting Carrier IQ with iOS 5 in most of our products and will remove it completely in a future software update."
Source: Sianni & Straite LLP



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