Is Your Smartphone Carrier or Manufacturer Spying on You?

They could be and you wouldn't even know it.

has the full details. In short, there's a company called Carrier IQ that makes smartphone analytics software that is used by a number of companies, including HTC and Samsung. Cellular service providers like Sprint

, AT&T

, and T-Mobile reportedly use the software as well. In general, analytics are a good thing – they give corporations key statistics that allow them to increase efficiency and better serve their customers. But Carrier IQ takes it one step further. It can actually track the websites you visit and the apps that you download. Now before you freak out, let's remember that cookies have been doing this for years. That doesn't make it right, but it's a fact we all must live with. The only difference here is that consumers were in the dark about it. And unlike cookies, you can't simply go in and remove Carrier IQ's software, nor can you opt out. Considering the

brought on by Google's

indoor maps, this clearly isn't a good week for privacy.