http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/11/24/carrier_iq_about_face/ By Dan Goodin in San Francisco The Register 24th November 2011 A Silicon Valley software maker has withdrawn legal threats against an Android developer who claimed the company's diagnostic application amounted to a rootkit that posed a privacy threat to millions of handset owners. In a statement issued on Wednesday, Mountain View, California-based Carrier IQ apologized to Trevor Eckhart for threatening to sue him for publishing training manuals he said supported his rootkit characterization. The about face came a few days after the Connecticut-based Android developer received legal support from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which asserted his postings were protected by the US Constitution's First Amendment. "Our action was misguided and we are deeply sorry for any concern or trouble that our letter may have caused Mr. Eckhart," the statement read. "We sincerely appreciate and respect EFF's work on his behalf, and share their commitment to protecting free speech in a rapidly changing technological world." Eckhart's posting claimed that Carrier IQ software was able to log detailed information on millions of phones powered by Google's Android, Research in Motion's Blackberry, and Nokia operating systems. A user's GPS coordinates, key taps, and websites visited were just some of the details phone makers and carriers used the software to track, he claimed. [...] _____________________________________________________ Subscribe to InfoSec News - www.infosecnews.org http://www.infosecnews.org/mailman/listinfo/isnReceived on Thu Nov 24 2011 - 01:08:17 PST
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