Class-action lawsuit filed against Apple, HTC, Samsung, AT&T, and more for Carrier IQ use

Delaware-based law firm Sianni & Straite LLP has filed a class-action lawsuit against Apple, HTC, Samsung, and Motorola, as well as US carriers AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile.

The lawsuit charges the above companies with breaching the Federal Wiretap Act with the pesky keystroke-sniffing software Carrier IQ, which is purported to sit on your phone and record every key you press, your location, and a range of other data.

"Defendants Samsung, Apple, Motorola, and HTC pre-install Carrier IQ software on cell phones used by its customers on the AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint networks," the lawsuit reads.

Both the manufacturers and the carriers involved are accused of an "unprecedented breach in the digital privacy rights of 150 million cell phone users." That's a lot of phones.

As soon as the firestorm around Carrier IQ broke, Apple issued a statement noting that the software hasn't been a part of "most of its products" since iOS 5 was released in October. Apple has also stated that it will remove any inactive portions of the sneaky software in a future firmware update.

Rival firm Google, on the other hand, has completely distanced itself from the debacle, and has said that Carrier IQ isn't included in its own stock Android devices, such as the Nexus and Xoom lines.

Android-powered handsets from the likes of HTC and Samsung, however, could be loaded with the software.

According to AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile, Carrier IQ is used to improve wireless network performance.