Carrier IQ detector app released for Android

A new Android app to identify whether your smartphone has any Carrier IQ tracking/monitoring software installed on it has been released, the Voodoo Carrier IQ detector, giving users a simple way to put their minds to rest on privacy. The handiwork of Android app developer supercurio, the tool is only a few hours old and only partially finished, with the consequent warning that the results can't be entirely relied on yet.

As you can see from the screenshot above – taken on our Galaxy Nexus today – Google's latest smartphone doesn't have any evidence of Carrier IQ, just as the company insisted. We also run it on a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, with no sign of Carrier IQ software on there either.

supercurio has offered up the source code under an open-source license for those who want to help refine the tool, so we're guessing the rough edges and reliability will be polished off in short order.

Of course, it's not just Android devices that are potentially using the data-gathering app. Apple has admitted that Carrier IQ is partially present in iOS 5, while other companies and carriers have been quick to distance themselves from the furore. More on the original issue here.

[via Engadget]