Is Carrier IQ that Big of a Deal?

The Carrier IQ scandal is getting a lot of attention (I blogged about it here), online at least because I havent seen very many public news stories. Some bloggers argue that this isnt really Watergate, while others, including Paul Venezia of InfoWorld, suggests that its the next Armeggeddon, well, maybe not that far.

The problem, as Paul correctly notes, is that too many people think that because they dont do anything wrong on their devices means that its not too big of a deal. Or, further discounting the impact of this revelation: Privacy, they say, is dead.

Now, Im a realist about the lack of privacy in this world. Heck, as lawyers we know that SCOTUS is erroding the number of times we can legitimately any expect privacy. Yet, that shouldnt deter us from some outrage.

My biggest concern in this matter is that the information sent by these applications is extensive, including information I consider private or secure. Moreover, I had no choice about whether I would permit the application to send this data. Its one thing to be legitimately stupid about the installation of a malicious app, its another to have passive consent.

In all, I think this will eventually sputter out. Senator Franken held his hearings, an investigation will occur, and eventually Carrier IQ and wireless companies will donate enough to campaigns and threaten advertising withdrawals to make us forget about this event we will fall back into our care-less attitudes about personal privacy.

As Venezia states: smartphones arent worth abrogating your personal privacy certainly not without consent.