German Regulators Question Apple About Carrier IQ

German regulators have questioned Apple about their usage of Carrier IQ, according to BusinessWeek.

The Bavarian State Authority for Data Protection sent a letter to Apple today to request information about the software, Thomas Kranig, head of the office, said in an interview. Apple said yesterday that it will stop supporting Carrier IQ software.

"We read in the press about the privacy concerns the software may pose and decided to ask Apple about the details," Kranig said. "If Apple decided to cease the use, all the better."


Apple's spokesperson in Germany declined to comment; however, the company has already issued a statement saying, "We stopped supporting Carrier IQ with iOS 5 in most of our products and will remove it completely in a future software update. With any diagnostic data sent to Apple, customers must actively opt-in to share this information, and if they do, the data is sent in an anonymous and encrypted form and does not include any personal information."

CarrierIQ is accused of tracking private information and potentially making it possible to spy on mobile phone users.

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