Android/Blackberry "Rootkill"?

All your keystrokes and GPS locations "are" belong to 3rd party company Carrier IQ.  According to Forbes magazine, Carrier IQ has a deeply embedding surveillance application found on Android (Samsung, HTC, Nokia) and RIM devices.  System administrator Trevor Eckhart uncovered unsolicited and comprehensive tracking and storing of data usage including URLs, app usage, texts of smartphone users.  There is a potential for violation of a 1986 federal wiretapping law on a massive scale.  Carrier IQ issued Eckhart a threatening cease-and-desist letter but an attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation came to the defense.  Is Carrier IQ a bully or just afraid of slander?  Readers weighing in parse the issue in two ways:

1. Is it okay for your usage to be recorded comprehensively by a third party?
2. What data is actually transmitted to Carrier IQ or by Carrier IQ to other companies?  In terms of wiretapping legality, this is the rub.