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How to remove Carrier IQ from your BlackBerry Smartphone

By Joseph Holder on 17 Dec 2011 10:17 am
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We've talked a great deal about the Carrier IQ situation here at CrackBerry. The carrier diagnostic tool has received quite a lot of attention from the press. While Research In Motion has stated in no uncertain terms that it does not install Carrier IQ on its phones; it is nevertheless possible for this software to end up on your BlackBerry. T-Mobile, for example, includes IQ Agent with its My Account application. AT&T revealed that Carrier IQ is included with its Mark the Spot application.

There are no special tools or programs you'll need to remove the agent from a BlackBerry; everything you'll need is already part of the BlackBerry operating system. In this article, we're going to discuss removing a single application module and not the entire application itself. This may have unintended consequences for your BlackBerry, and you may wish to just delete the entire My Account application (or similar, for other carriers) from your Smartphone. 

  • Enter application management. Options -> Device -> Application Management. For devices running a BlackBerry OS prior to 6.0, check out this Knowledge Base Article
  • Press the menu key (the BlackBerry logo one) and select Modules from the list
  • Look for the IQAgent module. In OS 6.0+, you can search for "IQ" or "agent"
  • The net_rim_bb_drm_agent is fine and not a part of CarrierIQ -- if that's all you see, then CarrierIQ is not present.
  • Highlight the IQAgent module, press the menu key, and choose delete
  • You may be prompted to restart your BlackBerry

Be very careful about deleting application modules. If you delete the wrong one, you may end up trashing a perfectly acceptable application or needing to restore a Nuked BlackBerry. If you're up to it, send us some screenshots via Twitter of your Carrier IQ IQAgent being deleted. Mention @CrackBerry and include the hashtag #goodbyeciq

Source: eWeek

Topics: Carrier IQ CarrierIQ News & Rumors Help, How-To & Tips BlackBerry 101

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Joseph Holder Joseph Holder 179 (articles) 23 (forum posts)
51 comments

mssca

Do we have this in Canada?

Max_Powers

My Telus 9780 had it installed, however my Bell 9900 did not. F*** you Carrier IQ.

Just Me

Are you certain that Telus had CiQ installed on your handset?

I'm not certain but I believe that invading one's privacy is still illegal in Canada. I doubt any carrier would be brazen or foolish enough to instal CiQ in Canada.

j00ky

Wasn't on my Bell 9900 either.... but you better believe I'll keep looking for it after every update.

Jake Storm

My Telus 9900 did not. (Running on leaked OS 7.1)

MisterMom

Im with Telus and it does not appear to be installed on my 9780.

MisterMom

But then I have upgraded the OS several times so maybe that took care of it.

Max_Powers

True. my 9780 is stock, my 9900 is running the leaked 7.1, which could be the reason it's not in there.

Rootbrian

It's disappointing, I was going to try and use this method to remove a component of PingMe when it won't let me even highlight the component at all. Tell me this isn't just a fault on OS 7. I don't have carrier IQ, but it sure sucks not to be able to remove components an app has which starts up with your device and then hangs with all the 5 resident apps, when switched to, won't close. Battery pull required? Lol

blueyestm

i've got ATT - so if i never installed that app I'm good to go right?

Max_Powers

Search for it anyways just to be sure.

ddlax22

I got att and searched on my 9800. Only thing I find its a net_something something rim agent. So I'm good I think

pdkres#cb

I'm on Tmobile in Atlanta, and after searching the modules for the term "agent" it shows "net_rim_bb_drm_agent". Entering a search for "IQ" shows no results. That' good right?

pcgizmo

Same here on VZW, searching "IQ" yields no results, searching "agent" only yields drm_agent.

bull_thumper

Ditto. Clean Verizon 9930!

FIVEFIFTYWHAT

What happens if I accidently delete the 'drm_agent' on my VZ 9850???

charlielefaux

TMobile in New York yields the same result. I'm going to backup my information (just in case) and delete the module. I will update if my 9900 bricks.

Update: I don't seem to have the option to delete it.

ddlax22

AT&T in philadelphia region same thing

captainbdsc

That's the module that shows up on mine.

Joseph, what is the actual name of the Carrier IQ module?

nccjones

TMobile in Virginia and I got the same results. Confused if TMobile is saying that it was on the new blackberries.

tightlybound

Thanks, this was very helpful. Good to know that I didn't have Carrier IQ running on my AT&T 9810.

teamfoster03

For what its worth my 9800 with os 6.0.0.706 does not have the iq agent module. I did have mark the spot installed at one point. But my blackberry bricked installing some beta software so when I restored it got removed during the clean.

oldtimeBBaddict

Joseph, What phone, carrier and OS are you running? And have you tried this?

spencerdl

I'm with Sprint and no carrier IQ present on my 9650 running 6.0.0.706

tollonodre

I could never get T-Mobile's 'My Account' to run on my new 9810 anyway, so I'm hoping that means I don't have to worry about it!

rcheung135

Will having it unlocked or locked affect the outcome if I remove it?

skxj

im with telus and its not on my 9780

SaltySnack

Not on my 9810 from Virgin Mobile Canada....

pastornordel

my canadian rogers phone does have a "my account" app, which makes me suspicious of some tracking, even though it does not appear to be carrier iq. that is just one security option for the carriers. there must be others that would appear if one knew what to look for.

big_time2

well, I can't seem to find it on my tmobile 9900 I will just go ahead and delete the "my account" application.

jacknewp

Nothing on my Torch w/ ATT here in the states......

BerryPotter

Didn't find it on my 9700 on ATT. Searched in modules for both "iq" and "agent" and got zero results.

kraski

Not on my 9810 from AT&T, either. I don't ever recall seeing anything named "Mark the Spot", so maybe it was never there. But, possibly, OS upgrades left it out?

TeaBoy

net_rim_bb_drm_agent 6.0.0.668?? Delete?

ubermanx

Rogers 9810 and it is not on my phone. I am using the latest version .585 from Vodafone and not Rogers ' latest. I do however have the Rogers My Account software loaded and running. So I assume Rogers is not using tbat software to distribute IQ.

wwallervzw

BB BOLD 9900 (AT&T) running 7.0.0.440 Bundle 2216 and cannot find anything Carrier IQ related.

Maestrodog

Please note in the forums news yesterday that Sprint announced they have stopped retrieving data from Carrier IQ with further word to come on removal of the leaky code from the phones.

I was fascinated to read their response to Senator Franken's excellent inquiry into the nature of their products and practices. While in the days following the news explosion, Sprint was telling people that Carrier IQ was on 96 percent of their phones, it was an essential diagnostic tool, and that it could not be removed, in their response to the Senator, RIM phones were not cited as part of their program. Is RIM less than four or five percent of their business? I hope not, things are apocalyptic enough for RIM. Also, a massive missed opportunity by Sprint not to put that information right out there, especially after RIM said we had nothing to do with it and punted to the carriers.

I salute Sprint for this latest move, but I decry their use of leaky software in the first place, their obvious and crass misstatement/falsehood that the diagnostic was mission critical, and their panicked inability to inform people whether it was on their phones or not.

This week also saw a very suspicious article about the FBI refusing to confirm or deny their use of Carrier IQ as part of their digital surveillance techniques, as well as EFF and others reporting that Carrier IQ remains a suspicious and difficult piece of coding to reckon and that without a doubt there exists the real chance of private information leaking to third parties as well as malware and hackers exploiting its weaknesses as a likely first point of attack.

I urge everyone who can to remove Carrier IQ and to pressure their carrier to follow Sprint's lead and cease and desist. Senator Franken was not convinced by the carriers' responses and is continuing to pressure those involved. Support him and the effort and we can hope for a better day for our beleaguered devices, our personal sanctity, and the parasites who prey on us.

SixYearBlackberryUser

Interesting that none of us can find it on our phones. Has anyone found it?? I know it's somewhere on my BB Torch 9850 on Verizon because I asked the tech guy while I was on the phone if it was on my new phone and he said yes. I asked how to get rid of it and he said he couldn't give directions. I followed the directions above and couldn't find it either. I must be not so obvious to find and hidden under another module.

tightlybound

Extremely curious that NONE of us are finding it. Hmm.

SixYearBlackberryUser

*It must not be obvious to find and is probably hidden under another module

howboutdat

Didn't find it on my AT&T 9800, still not convinced its not there though, despite the directions given to locate it...

decypher44

No one can find it using the steps provided. Where did the info come from?

Pilot Prop

no CIQ on my 9800....i had the mark the spot app but i deleted a while back

El Platanero

I hate to keep.posting this but even this carrier IQ has me speculating if it has something to do with the bolds crashing. I'm no expert but something has to be messing this phone up. I'm now dealing with it freezing at random times. Anybody on the same boat?

tightlybound

I'm wondering if OS7 isn't just an extremely unstable platform. My 9810 crashes about five times a day for no apparent reason. Maybe RIM just rushed it into production before it was ready. (Nah, they'd never do that, right?)

SixYearBlackberryUser

Well since no one found this on their phone I think there is more to this than we are lead to believe. Again, as I stated in previous stories about Carrier IQ, my experience is really odd since I ordered a BB Torch 9850 a month ago from Verizon and it was shipped in a box with the seal broken and the battery installed. I shipped it back and another one was shipped again the with seal broken. Shipped it back and a third phone was shipped again in a box with seal broken and the phone turned on! Obviously something, either Carrier IQ or something similiar might have been installed at the warehouse by Verizon. I finanlly went to the store to get a phone in a box with no seal, however the girl at the store had to activate it and wouldn't let me take it home to activate it. I had to call tech support when I got home and asked the guy about Carrier IQ and if it was installed. He said yes and I asked how do I get rid of it. He said he was not allowed to give instructions. My feeling is either Carrier IQ is installed and under a different name in case this were to happen and became public, or there are other tracking software programs. I think if there is tracking software we should be allowed to know.

axllebeer

After a very careful check on my 9930 from Sprint, I found nothing following the directions listed above. And I searched by typing it in, then did a visual search 1 file at a time. I feel a little better now.

Boldly sent from my 9930

AvivB

Anyone knows what is "net_rim_bb_geolocationagent" in 6.0.0.706 on 9800?