Red Bank Firm Sues Over Cell Phone Privacy Rights

The Red Bank-based firm of has filed a class action complaint in Federal Court in Wilmington, Del. alleging that several cell phone manufacturers and service providers have breached the privacy of 150 million cell phone users by installing data mining software on their phones, according to a press release issued by PR Newswire recently.

Keefe Bartels is one of three firms behind the suit, which claims that cell phone providers T-Mobile, Sprint, and AT&T, and manufacturers HTC, Motorola, Apple, and Samsung violated the Federal Wiretap Act, Stored Electronic Communications Act, and the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act by employing software from Carrier IQ, in what has been described as a rootkit and keylogger, that secretly tracks personal and sensitive information.

The software collections information, including websites visited, text messages sent, and passwords entered. Concerns over privacy violations as well as the failure of service providers and cell manufacturers to inform customers that their cell phone use is being tracked have been raised. The tracking software was first uncovered by an Android application developer who posted a video on YouTube detailing its capabilities.

According to a recent article in PCmag, the revelation of the software and its inherent privacy issues, which were dismissed by the California-based developer who designed the software, have prompted concerns from consumer advocacy groups and raised eyebrows in government. Minnesota Sen. Al Franken wrote a letter to Carrier IQ asking for detailed information about how the software works and the purpose of its data collection.

Attempts to reach Keefe Bartels representatives were unsuccessful both Friday afternoon and Monday morning. Several calls were met with an automated message saying all circuits were busy.

To view the video of how IQ Carrier works, click the video clip linked at top right.