HTC has reached out to us with an official statement on why Carrier IQ aka the hidden software lurking and spying on you was on HTC phones. According to them, it's not HTC's fault at all! It's the stupid US carriers who require Carrier IQ.

Holy data privacy scandal! Over the last week the news that Carrier IQ has been tracking millions…

Here's the official word:

"Carrier IQ is required on devices by a number of U.S carriers so if consumers or media have any questions about the practices relating to, or data collected by, Carrier IQ we'd advise them to contact their carrier.

It is important to note that HTC is not a customer or partner of Carrier IQ and does not receive data from the application, the company, or carriers that partner with Carrier IQ. HTC is investigating the option to allow consumers to opt-out of data collection by the Carrier IQ application."