Sprint confirmed that is its working with its OEMs to remove Carrier IQ from its devices. The first one handset that will get its firmware replaced is the HTC EVO 3D, and based on an official statement The Verge received it’s highly probable that the carrier will expand this effort to additional portions of its offerings portfolio.

“HTC can confirm that we’re working with Sprint to provide maintenance releases that will remove Carrier IQ and provide security enhancements and bug fixes beginning in January.”

Carrier IQ is, or at least was, a highly popular solution for carriers that helped them analyze their network in order to gain insight on user activity and other things, such as why calls are being dropped. The overwhelming majority of the telco industry leveraged the service, which involves an app that’s preinstalled on users’ devices and collected data about their online activities – too much data, as one Android developer discovered. Trevor Eckhart posted a video in which he proved that Carrier IQ is recording much more than what has been publicly disclosed, which led to an uproar among carriers.

Almost all of the major carriers’ spokespeople promptly released statements claiming that they have not been using the service to spy on users, though only Apple made a commitment to remove the firmware from its portfolio. At the time, Sprint stressed the significance of Carrier IQ for its operations.

“Sprint spokeswoman Stephanie Vinge-Walsh, “Carrier IQ provides information that allows Sprint, and other major carriers that use it, to analyze our network performance and identify where we should be improving service. Carrier IQ is an integral part of the Sprint service. Sprint relies on Carrier IQ to help maintain our network performance.”

The latest news obviously indicates that Sprint had a change of mind, perhaps due to mounting pressure from consumers and privacy advocates, or the pending investigation by government officials on the use of Carrier IQ’s software. This didn’t come as a surprise though, especially after we’ve learned that the issue extends beyond a simple privacy breach to a major security threat to users.  Some malware makers have taken advantage of consumer fear over privacy issues, creating a Trojan disguised as a Carrier IQ solution. But instead of removing the questionable software, it instead infects your mobile device.

image credit: unwired review