Lookout releases free Carrier IQ detection app

A mobile security software company released a tool that detects Carrier IQ, the software embedded in numerous smartphones that has raised questions from users, privacy advocates, and even Congress.

Lookout, best known for the Android security software by the same name, launched the free Carrier IQ Detector last week. It can be downloaded from the Android Market. The tool only detects the presence of Carrier IQ on Android handsets: It does not scrub the software from the smartphone. Lookout said that Carrier IQ was "deeply integrated with handset firmware [and] users would be required to attain special device privileges in order to remove it," then warned that doing so incorrectly could "put users at further risk of malware infection" and possibly make them unable to receive future phone updates.