Carrier IQ finally settles class-action lawsuit over consumer privacy

By Williams Pelegrin November 7, 2014

carrier iq settles class action lawsuit consumer privacy — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Back in November 2011, a researcher posted a damning video of Carrier IQ, a company that offers diagnostic analysis of smartphones, logging keystrokes. A class-action lawsuit, which alleged that the company’s mobile software violated consumers’ privacy, was filed after the fact. Recently, Carrier IQ finally agreed to resolve the lawsuit, reports MediaPost.

At the time of the lawsuit’s filing, class-action lawsuits were also filed against six device manufacturers, including HTC, Samsung, LG, and others. All the lawsuits were consolidated in front of U.S. District Court Judge Edward Chen in San Francisco. While Carrier IQ agreed to settle, the device manufacturers have yet to do so.

Even so, according to the court papers, these device manufacturers are scheduled to meet with consumers’ lawyers and a mediator in the near future.

When reports of Carrier IQ’s software started coming in, the company admitted that its software will sometimes log contents of users’ messages. However, the company claimed that the data isn’t readable and the software’s intent was to help mobile carriers figure out the source of network problems.

Carrier IQ’s settlement has yet to be finalized in court.

[Image via Tischenko Irina/Shutterstock]

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Williams Pelegrin

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Williams is an avid New York Yankees fan, speaks Spanish, resides in Colorado, and has an affinity for Frosted Flakes. Send…

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