

Senator Al Franken Asks Carrier IQ to Explain Itself - rdp
http://franken.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=1868

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steve8918
I have to admit that when I first heard Al Franken was running for Senate, I
didn't like him, I didn't like the fact he was an actor, and I felt he was too
smug whenever I heard him talk. I basically thought it was ridiculous that
another actor made his way into politics.

But he seems to be the only politician that is actively involved in the issues
that I care about, so I admit I was completely wrong about him, and I've done
an about face and actually do support his work.

The fact that he is questioning Carrier IQ about what they're doing is just
another data point to prove that I was wrong to dismiss him.

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tlb
He says it "underscores the need for congress to act."

No, this incident underscores the need for independent security professionals
to keep an eye on what our devices are really doing so we can make informed
choices.

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mcherm
One kind of government regulation would be to prohibit building tools that
would, for instance, track your location. I can see how that would harmful
government intrusion.

Another kind of government regulation would be, for instance, to prohibit
companies from intentionally lying when describing to the public what kind of
personal information their devices record with the intent to conceal it. That
kind of regulation would then allow customers to make the informed choices you
speak of.

~~~
briandear
Companies can already get in trouble for "intentionally lying" it's called
fraud. Of course, that's assuming a user reads the TOS and actually knows what
they've agreed to accept.

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kabir_h
Why is Senator Franken still using snail mail? He could've just emailed
Carrier IQ from his phone. He wouldn't even have to hit send.

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RandallBrown
Why would he ask Carrier IQ to explain itself? Why not the wireless carriers
and phone companies that installed this on the phones?

Carrier IQ makes a product. Companies are choosing to use it in a scummy way.
I don't think that Carrier IQ is the bad guy here.

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sixtofour
Exactly. It's like asking Smith & Wesson to explain itself after an armed
robbery.

~~~
mfringel
No, not exactly.

"Exactly" would be if CarrierIQ sold a boxed piece of software that was fire &
forget.

As it stands, CarrierIQ was a business partner with each of these companies in
the implementation of the software, and so they are the initial point of
leverage in figuring out what actually happened.

If CarrierIQ decides to roll over on the carriers and say "well, $carrier
asked me to log all the SMS messages", well, then I'll take up a side business
selling popcorn.

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joeybaker
It's an interesting comment on governmental policy to see how quickly recent
events have gone from Internet meme to Congressional attention.

~~~
jonursenbach
It's only really started being this way since Franken was elected in. He seems
to be one of the few people who really care about all this shit.

~~~
rkudeshi
Ron Wyden's been pretty good, too. He was recently declared a winner of the
EFF's Pioneer Awards.

[https://www.eff.org/press/releases/us-senator-encryption-
inn...](https://www.eff.org/press/releases/us-senator-encryption-innovator-
and-tunisian-blogging-group-win-eff-pioneer-awards)

Excerpt: _Few legislators have done more to promote and protect online speech,
privacy rights and innovation than U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). Most
notably, he authored Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, a law that
helps make user-generated content and online services possible by protecting
hosts from liability. Senator Wyden is currently the lone senator blocking
passage of the PROTECT IP Act, legislation that attempts to safeguard
intellectual property at the expense of free speech, technological innovation
and the very foundation of the Internet. Most recently, Senator Wyden
introduced legislation to create a legal framework for when and how location
information derived from cell phones and other electronic devices can be
accessed and used by both government agents and private entities._

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ck2
I wish we could clone Al Franken and Elizabeth Warren a few dozen times.

Just think of how the DMCA tries to block this kind of discovery though.

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mmcdan
Remember the emails that AT&T sent out to people it suspected of tethering
their phones without paying the exorbitant monthly fee
([http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/18/atandt-tells-customers-
us...](http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/18/atandt-tells-customers-using-
unauthorized-tethering-methods-to-pay/))? Something tells me that this
wonderful "diagnostic" information had something to do with it.

Why packet-sniff and risk legal issues when you can just look at your
CarrierIQ analytics for people who opened a tethering app regularly?

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Bdennyw
I'll be impressed when he asks the NSA, FBI and NYPD to explain themselves.

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briandear
They already do explain themselves just at classified hearings to the Senate
and House Intelligence committees. Although I don't know about NYPD although
they do have an intelligence community liasion that coordinates with FBI and
DHS.

