HTC answers accusations of privacy issues involving its products

Last week, the Taiwanese phone manufacturer HTC was charged with collecting personal and location data from a variety of its products. This is similar to the way the iPhone 4 was said to create privacy issues earlier during the year.

According to XDA, the Gingerbread 2.3.4 update for smartphones such as the HTC EVO 3D and HTC Sensation includes “User Behavior Logging”. This takes note of every action made on the smartphone, which is then sent to the Amazon cloud storing service.

Responding to these claims, HTC said the data collected was geared to report on errors rather than collecting personal and location data.

Addressing XDA, HTC said, “HTC, like most manufacturers, has an opt-in error reporting function built in to our devices.

“If your phone experiences an error, you have the option of “Telling HTC” so we can make improvements to our phones.

“Details about this are in our privacy policy on each device and in order for data to be collected, you have to opt-in. If you do opt-in, we protect your privacy by de-identifying and encrypting the data.

“HTC is committed to protecting your privacy and that means a commitment to clear opt-in/opt-out as the standard for collecting any information we need to serve you better.”

And there you go. They were collecting errors and not personal data. However, if you’re still worried about HTC violating your privacy, you can always disable the function on your phone’s settings.

Do you feel HTC is violating your privacy, or do you think the Taiwanese phone giant is trying to make your mobile experience even better? Let us know what you feel.

Tags: data gathering, Gingerbread 2.3.4 update, htc evo 3d, HTC Sensation, location gathering, privacy issues, XDA
Category OS News |

Special Edition HTC Sensation rumored to sport Beats

Rumor has it the Taiwanese phone giant HTC may be beefing up its current flagship the Sensation. According to reports, included in its spec sheet is Beats by Dr. Dre integration.

Rumors say the new Sensation will come packed with a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor. To prevent the extra clock speed from draining the batteries too fast, it will come with a 1,730 mAh battery instead of a 1,520 mAh battery on the original version. The upgrades do not end here. If you thought the 1 GB of internal storage wasn’t enough, HTC has increased it to 4 GB.

Aside from these upgrades to hardware, the smartphone will come with a surprise accessory. This is none other than headsets by Beats.

Everything else on the smartphone will be the same. It will still sport a 4.3 inch Super LCD touchscreen. It will still rock an 8 MP camera, which can record high-definition videos at 1080p. Lastly, it will be powered by Android’s smartphone-optimized operating system, Gingerbread.

If you’re wondering how much the smartphone will set you back, it will cost £520. This means you will be paying £80 more for the upgraded version of the Sensation.

Unfortunately, we have no idea when the upgraded Sensation will be landing in the UK. We’ll keep you posted once we know more.

Tags: Beats, HTC Sensation, HTC Sensation with Beats, Sensation, upgraded HTC Sensation, upgraded Sensation
Category Phone News |

HTC EVO 3D and Sensation accused of spying on users

The HTC EVO 3D and the company’s current flagship the Sensation is apparently gathering private data from users. BGR said, “A recent Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread update from HTCadded a little something special to the source code of Carrier IQ (CIQ), an Android component.”

Carrier IQ or simply CIQ, is within most Android-powered devices. Its purpose is to send data about your Android smartphone to network operators, which is not really a bad thing.

According to InfectedROM, the Android 2.3.4 update that rolled out to the HTC EVO 3D and the Sensation adds a ‘User Behavior Logging’ utility, which is ‘capable of tracking how Sensation and EVO 3D owners use their smartphones in greater detail’.

Sprint (a US-based network operator) spokesperson, Jason Gertzen, told BGR, “Carrier IQ is used to understand what problems customers are having with our network or devices so we can take action to improve service quality.

“It collects enough information to understand the customer experience with devices on our network and how to devise solutions to use and connection problems. We do not and cannot look at the contents of messages, photos, videos, etc., using this tool.”

There are, however, some who do not agree. One of these is XDA’s TrevE. TrevE says, “From logging your installed apps, to the amount of time spent on each app, every open intent and even the dreaded location information, among other data.”

Do you feel the Android 2.3.4 for the HTC EVO 3D and the Sensation spies on their users, or do you think it is used to resolve phone issues? Let us know what you think.

Tags: Android 2.3.4, Android 2.3.4 update, htc evo 3d, HTC EVO 3D Android 2.3.4 update, HTC Sensation, HTC Sensation Android 2.3.4 update
Category OS News |