Gotta love the paranoid nutjobs jumping straight to "the FBI is using Carrier IQ to spy on us" when an equally likely explanation buried in paragraph three is that if the FBI is conducting an investigation of Carrier IQ for possible violation of federal wiretap laws then the same data would be withheld. Let's see now... Al Franken, who recently made some loud noises about Carrier IQ and sent a public letter to the company asking for information about what they are doing, sits on the Senate Judiciary committee. The committee that has direct oversight of the FBI would be? Anyone? Bueller?
Not quite sure it's "paranoid" to think the FBI is, in some cases, using Carrier IQ software to gather information given recent U.S. history. Also, since the request was specifically for manuals used to gather information using Carrier IQ, and not just for any information on Carrier IQ, when they say they have responsive documents to the request I would imagine it refers to manuals or guides in their possession.
If the FBI is conducting an investigation into possible criminal activity by Carrier IQ then the manuals and guides are direct evidence showing what the company intended the software to do, making it evidence in an ongoing investigation.
Not discounting the possibility of that (I specifically stated it in the article), but I'd bet even odds FBI has some knowledge of accessing Carrier IQ data.
The FBI have professional phone forensics/evidence labs around the country. They work with handset manufacturers and special purpose vendors to extract and analyze every bit of data that exists in the phone.
It's inconceivable that CarrierIQ would store unencrypted data on a large number of phones and the FBI would not know how to access it. More than likely, CIQ sells them the tool to do it, or at least provides documentation.
They are? (I hadn't been following this that closely but...) My understanding was that the issue was American carriers customising the OEM software and selling that kit to their own users.
denied using, not denied shipping. Most likely the software is there, but non-US vendors (and law enforcement agencies -- not everyone is as clued up and as resourceful as the FBI) simply don't exploit it.
