How to Disable the Tracking Spyware “Carrier IQ” on an iPhone

If you use a smartphone, you should be aware of the pre-installed tracking software called "Carrier IQ" that is currently in the news. It has been called a rootkit and is apparently sending out information about user activity from millions of phones without the owner’s knowledge. See the information at this link and at this link.

As far as I have found, there is no easy way to disable this tracking on an Android phone other than rooting it but it can be stopped on iPhones running iOS 5.0 or later with an obscure setting.

Here is the procedure for an iPhone. Go to:

1. Settings > General > About > Diagnostics & Usage
2. Check “Don’t send”

Added later: There is a free app available for Android phones to check for the presence of Carrier IQ. It does not provide a way to disable Carrier IQ, however. The link is here.

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This tips section is maintained by Vic Laurie. Vic runs several websites with Windows how-to's and tutorials, including  a computer education website and a site for learning about the command line.

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