Trevor Eckhart, a 25-year-old systems administrator in Connecticut, revealed last week that a popular program called CarrierIQ is capable of recording almost all of the keystrokes entered into a phone, including text messages, emails, and other personal information. According to CarrierIQ’s website, the software is installed in hundreds of millions of mobile devices.

Even if it is possible, CarrierIQ has denied that they record anything but anonymous information like data speed or battery usage.

RIM (maker of Blackberry) have stated that CarrierIQ is not on any of their devices, and Windows phones also seem unaffected. Apple recently announced that iOS 5 no longer supported the program, and that it will be completely removed in a future software update.

HTC and Samsung both confirmed that they had used the program in Android phones. There’s already an app available on the Android market, from popular anti-virus company Lookout Labs, that will scan your device for CarrierIQ. Unfortunately, there’s still no easy way to remove the program from your phone.

iPhone users might not even have the program, but can check and disable it until Apple uninstalls the software completely. Go to Settings, and select General; then select About; then scroll down and select Diagnostics; and then select Don’t Send. Check out step-by-step pictures here at Mashable.

What do you think? Are you racing to check your phone, or is it all hype?

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