Here’s a blast from the past. Back in 2011, there was quite a brouhaha surrounding Carrier IQ when it was discovered that the software was being used on many smartphones and was logging key presses, searches, text messages, and more. Fast-forward to today, and one carrier has decided to acquire the once-maligned Carrier IQ.
AT&T has acquired select software assets and employees from Carrier IQ. The big blue carrier confirmed the news to TechCrunch, saying that it has “acquired the rights to Carrier IQ’s software, and some CIQ employees moved to AT&T.” AT&T went on to explain that it uses Carrier IQ software only to improve the network experience for its customers, which is in line with its privacy policy.
It’s kind of crazy to think that a major US carrier is buying the same software that resulted in a lot of anger and even the introduction of a bill in the House of Representatives. All of that happened four years ago, though, and most folks likely forgot about all of that before this news came out. Now AT&T is snapping up some of Carrier IQ’s staff and software bits, and because I’m sure that it’d like to avoid a repeat of 2011, AT&T is probably making sure that these CIQ assets will only monitor its network performance.