Pearson Warshaw, LLP and co-counsel were appointed as co-lead counsel in a nationwide lawsuit concerning software developed by Defendant Carrier iQ that was deployed on millions of U.S. mobile devices. Plaintiffs allege that the software, in addition to gathering data about cellular service quality, intercepted private communications, content, and data on these devices. Plaintiffs allege that under certain circumstances, this private content has been, or could have been, transmitted off mobile devices without customers’ knowledge to third parties, including at least one device manufacturer and the author of the Android operating system. The lawsuit alleges violations of the Federal Wiretap Act, various state privacy and wiretap acts, various state consumer protection acts, the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, and the implied warranty of merchantability under various state laws. Defendants deny these allegations.

Defendants are Carrier iQ, Inc.; HTC America, Inc.; HTC Corporation; Huawei Device USA, Inc.; LG Electronics MobileComm U.S.A., Inc.; LG Electronics, Inc.; Motorola Mobility LLC; Pantech Wireless, Inc.; Samsung Electronics America, Inc.; and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

On March 1, 2016 the Honorable Edward M. Chen granted preliminary approval of a $9M gross class action settlement that provides cash relied to consumers that own the affected mobile devices and file a timely and valid claim.

In addition to the gross settlement, Defendant Carrier iQ agreed as part of the Amended Settlement Agreement to provide certain non-monetary relief, including the capability for wireless carriers to designate a port on a mobile device separate from the one used to send and receive SMS text messages for communicating instructions to the Carrier iQ software; privacy safeguards for URL metrics requested by Carrier iQ customers; and guidance to handset manufacturers on disabling logging functions that may be used during the debugging process before shipping devices for production. As part of the settlement, Carrier iQ represents and warrants that it implemented this relief prior to a sale of its assets to AT&T Mobility IP, LLC in 2015.

Carrier iQ also has fixed a software bug that had created the potential for the collection of data during error conditions, and prior to the 2015 sale of its assets to AT&T Mobility, it created testing protocols to prevent similar bugs in future deployments.

The deadline to make a claim was June 4, 2016.

A settlement website has been established at www.carrieriqsettlement.com. The settlement website enables consumers to make a claim online, download a claim form, access relevant case documents and provides detailed information about the settlement.