Folks Seeking $100/Day Punitive Damages from Apple, T-Mobile, AT&T and Sprint over Carrier IQ Issue!

A latest report from Bloomberg reveals; Mobile phone customers have filed a lawsuit against AT&T Inc., Sprint Nextel Corp., Apple Inc. and T-Mobile USA claiming that the Carrier IQ Inc. tracking software installed on their phones breaches U.S. wiretapping and computer fraud laws.

They cited a YouTube video in which it has been clearly shown that Carrier IQ software gathers information on users’ locations, applications and Web browsing and even the keys pressed by them.

Actually, four mobile phone customers filed a lawsuit against the giants of mobile market yesterday in federal court -Wilmington, Delaware, requesting the court to stop the carriers and phone makers from using Carrier IQ software.

Carrier IQ software works like an efficient spy and logs user activity quietly running in the background of mobile devices.

When the YouTube report hit the tech surfaces, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee contacted the company in quest of information and asserting that the software may violate federal privacy laws, as per a copy of the complaint supplied by David Straite, an attorney for the petitioners.

However, the filing of the complaint against these carriers and mobile makers couldn’t be confirmed yesterday through electronic court records.

AT&T and Sprint, the second- and third-largest U.S. wireless providers respectively have already confessed that they use Carrier IQ software to collect data that is further used for service improvement.

Also, Apple responded over the issue and declared that the company had stopped supporting Carrier IQ in most of its products and will abolish it completely in a future software update, as said in an email from Natalie Harrison, an Apple spokeswoman.

The customers who are suing against the companies are also seeking compensatory and punitive damages on behalf of all others whose phones have this rootkit software from Mountain View, California-based Carrier IQ, which is also named as a defendant in the suit. Interestingly enough, Carrier IQ is currently installed on 150 million phones worldwide, as per complaint.

The complaint also seeks a $100 a day per violation on the basis of the federal wiretap laws, which forbid wayward interception of wire or electronic communication.

The spokespersons for a Dallas-based AT&T, Cupertino, California-based Apple, and Overland Park, Kansas- based Sprint Nextel; and T-Mobile USA all declined to pass any comment over this lawsuit just filed by the folks against them.

Also, Carrier IQ spokeswoman Mira Woods didn’t replied to an e-mailed request for comment.

Notably, Carrier IQ previously stated that their software is designed to develop a better user experience and is buried in devices by manufacturers along with other diagnostic tools. The company also claimed to not to sell personal subscriber information to third parties.

The case is Pacilli v. Carrier IQ, U.S. District Court, District of Delaware (Wilmington).

Source: Bloomberg & Businessweek