Podcast 005: The Carrier IQ controversy; spying on your teen’s text messages

By Ben Patterson | December 2, 2011 at 10:01 am
categorized as: Podcasts

Yes, there’s something of a surveillance theme to this week’s here’s the thing gadgetcast.

First up: the discussion gets heated as we dive into the brewing controversy over Carrier IQ, a company that makes diagnostic software for smartphones.

Carrier IQ claims its software does little more than check for dropped calls and other troubleshooting issues, but an inquisitive Android developer claims the program can spy on everything from our keystrokes and browser activity to location data and text messages. Should we be worried?

Speaking of spying, we mull a question from a reader who asks how she can spy on her teen’s text messages. Sure, you can—but should you?

Joining me as always are site co-founder Susan Leopold and here’s the thing contributor Adrianna Dufay.

Press the “play” button below to listen, or click the “Download” link to save the podcast to your desktop. You can also subscribe to the gadgetcast on iTunes.