CyanogenMod will never have Carrier IQ

http://www.cyanogenmod.com/blog/cyanogenmod-will-never-have-carrier-iq

by mgdiaz • 15 years ago

142 39 15 years ago

wmf• 15 years ago

Kicking them when they're down and fishing for compliments at the same time; impressive. Perhaps next we'll hear that CyanogenMod doesn't cause cancer.

gougify• 15 years ago

Couldn't agree more. Thanks CyanogenMod for this breaking press release...

rimantas• 15 years ago

You've just helped me to understand, why I had somewhat uneasy feeling about the project name: in my head cyanogen has connotations with carcinogen.

StavrosK• 15 years ago

The name actually means "causes blueness", I guess.

Klinky• 15 years ago

Not sure how CyanogenMod commenting on a topical issue that affects their target audience deserves a hostile response. Also not sure when people started caring about the feelings of telcos that put spyware on your phone by default...

msg• 15 years ago

If it turned out that basically every other mainstream phone OS had just been discovered to cause cancer, yes, I would say the fact that CM doesn't and never will would be welcome news.

jtchang• 15 years ago

You don't get it do you?

As an engineer I couldn't care less about their small post. I already knew about cyanogen.

As a run of the mill consumer though this post couldn't be more poignant. Raising awareness of an alternative firmware? That is huge. This is how Linux got started.

Blame marketing all you want but the more people who know about Cyanogen the better.

mikecarlucci• 15 years ago

This.

Cyanogen is still harder than jailbreaking an iOS device, but the gap is narrowing.

As that edge reaches more casual users, who aren't just tech-heavy people, there's no reason Cyanogen couldn't be the Ubuntu of Android phones. It could have a large base of converts who want an alternative but don't want to have to spend all their time learning how to use their software in (for us techies) awesome ways.

kevin_jacobs• 15 years ago

Nice, but end users shouldn't have to root their phones and install a new OS just to not have all their data logged and reported on.

thwarted• 15 years ago

Not sure what you're calling out here. That end users have to root their phones in order to avoid something undesirable is not something that CyanogenMod can respond to. All the alternative firmware provides is a way to avoid something that is otherwise forced on you, and CyanogenMod is pointing out that it's offering that alternative.

mfringel• 15 years ago

I'm going to guess that the parent is calling out one of the standard geek fallacies, that being "Well, I made/found/installed a workaround for my device, and everyone else could do it. Problem solved."

It's a fallacy because not everyone has the technical skill to do it, and the amount of people who do have the technical skill are (I'm guessing, but I don't think I'm wrong) statistically insignificant next to the amount of people who don't.

So, the overall problem isn't solved, and the people who have the technical wherewithal to actually speak out about it as technical experts are, by and large, sitting in a corner with CM7 and saying "All good over here."

nextparadigms• 15 years ago

Hopefully, the number of users of CM will rise enough to give the carriers "competition" and stop putting stuff like this and other bloatware in them. Because once a phone is rooted, they can also use apps like the ones for free tethering and so on. And I'm sure they don't like that at all.

beloch• 15 years ago

Users of any of the Nexus models don't, and for that I'm thankful. However, I hope Google takes this bad press seriously and does something more than merely distance themselves from third party cell manufacturers like HTC that have installed Carrier IQ on their phones.

Google could provide an update that would remove or disable Carrier IQ. Something to tide users over until the next OS update is available to their phones. I find it unlikely that Carrier IQ will be around on any device after ICS is installed (too much bad press for HTC, etc.), but that may take some time or simply not even happen for some phones.

One thing that is starting to become very clear is that there are more advantages to the Nexus line than just getting swift updates! Third party cell manufacturers may have unwittingly created a two-tier Android market, with their modified versions of the OS in the bottom tier.

gujk• 15 years ago

Google doesn't need CarrierIQ because they have their own spyware, such as in-the-background location tracking if you ever turn on the GPS or ask for location even once while running Maps or Plus, and of course because they mediate all your access to the world through their built-in apps, and don't offer an opt out from data collection and mining.

wladimir• 15 years ago

shouldn't, I heartily agree, but the hard reality of the matter seems to be that it is currently necessary. If you don't control root on your own device, you don't know (and can't find out) who else does.

estel• 15 years ago

I've been hearing some rumours of OEMs considering releasing phones with CM installed by default. They're definitely starting to actively support development (I think both Samsung and Ericcson have been providing devices, and the latter have definitely been hinting at providing much more support).

retroafroman• 15 years ago

Samsung acutally hired Cyanogen: http://www.slashgear.com/cyanogen-hired-by-samsung-will-cont...

ars• 15 years ago

The official android release (i.e. nexus phones) doesn't have Carrier IQ either.

bad_user2• 15 years ago

CyanogenMod is the reason why I was comfortable buying an Android, as I don't trust these Android phone makers to release updates in a timely manner or to care about me as a customer.

ck22• 15 years ago

But how did you feel about all those strange programs you had to use to get root to install it?

Because when I went through the process I was extremely nervous - even though most of the code is open source, how would you spot a backdoor if it was buried within a line?

The ability to have root from the factory on a device you own should be a consumer's right in the states, just like getting your carrier unlock code.

bad_user2• 15 years ago

I feel the same as you - I consider CyanogenMod a useful escape hatch.

gbog• 15 years ago

Can't agree more with "The ability to have root from the factory on a device you own should be a consumer's right in the states, just like getting your carrier unlock code." but please remove "in the states".

When buying a computer, desktop or laptop, I would be extremely disappointed if I discover that I don't have the full ownership represented by "root access".

When buying a car, don't we get the keys of the doors and a way to open the front cover where the engine lies?

I don't understand why our expectations with mobile phones should be any different. People are letting go this ownership too easily. It worries me. I suspect there is some PR or FUD work behind the curtain.

We are told that full ownership is dangerous and unnecessary. Like any power given to the owners, it may be dangerous, yes: I can fill my car's gas tank with sugar and break the engine if I wish to do so. But I think this Carriergate shows well enough that full ownership of devices that are so deeply rooted in our private lives is of the utmost necessity.

gospelwut2• 15 years ago

I'm inclined to agree, but I want to make the caveat here that a lot of phones don't have encrypted bootloaders (e.g. the Droid RAZR) by default. The carriers throw a fit and refuse to buy the phone unless it's encrypted for their needs. So, the handset companies are listening. The carriers are the ones generally imposing these things.

Pitchforks: that way.

JonnieCache• 15 years ago

I certainly bloody hope not, just like I would presume that debian or centos don't contain rootkits either.

Imagine if cyanogen had been putting cIQ in there? He'd be burned at the stake.

gst• 15 years ago

CyanogenMod is only part of the solution: It still requires a proprietary radio stack for each phone and there is plenty of backdoor stuff someone could put into the radio code.

jrockway• 15 years ago

Also! CPU microcode and "Reflections on Trusting Trust"!

zachinglis• 15 years ago

This post seems a bit too proud of itself. Love the first comment in the article though:

"Here is a list of stuff that tracks you installed on the page talking about how cyanogen will never track you. Note you need not interact with any of these to be tracked. Just browse the page you're reading.

Comscore Beacon Disqus Facebook Social Graph Google +1 button Google analytics Quantcast Twitter Button

Not saying cyanogen is evil, or that these are unusual or unreasonable, or even missing the point about how carrier bloatware will inevitably lead to truly evil things like Carrier IQ. It's hard to get away from this kind of crap these days. The irony just struck me, that's all."

Kylekramer• 15 years ago

Of course they don't. But they do have CMStats (http://www.cyanogenmod.com/blog/cmstats-what-it-is-and-why-y...). While it is much better than Carrier IQ (less intrusive and prompts you to opt out on install), it still proves this info has value and even the most "fight the man", dogmatic open source project wants it.

gospelwut2• 15 years ago

Standard Response: Fork it and remove it.

[nobody has aptitude or inclination to maintain such a thing]

cbs• 15 years ago

it still proves this info has value

"This info" is quite the weasel word. The set of data collected by cmstat, and what carrier's need spyware to obtain are mutually exclusive. Everything that CM stats collects would be available to carriers by looking at a combination of their sales, tower checkins, and firmware upgrades. After reading what data was included, I decided to opt-in my phone after previously opting-out by force of habit.

bowyakka• 15 years ago

I seem to remember you get to opt-in to this, I never agreed to carrier IQ.

CyanogenMod will never have Carrier IQ

Related Stories