Carrier IQ by the Numbers: 26 million Sprint Handsets; 900,000 for AT&T
Kevin Krause
Some major players have responded to Senator Al Franken’s questions surrounding Carrier IQ and its practices. Usage data has been revealed by AT&T and Sprint, and Samsung and HTC have disclosed figures on Carrier IQ as well. Sprint seems to be the most heavily involved with the tracking service, deploying it on over 26 million of their handsets. AT&T reports numbers much lower at 900,000 handsets, clarifying that only 575,000 are actively collecting data. The bulk of these devices can be attributed to HTC and Samsung; the companies clarified to have pre-installed the software on an estimated 6.3 million and 25 million phones respectively.
All companies involved had similar explanations for the use of Carrier IQ, stating that data is only collected as a tool for diagnosing network issues. The responses, which can be found over at Senator Franken’s website, refute claims that carriers are spying on their users. You can read the senator’s response at his website, as well.
