When Google started rolling out Android 4.3 Jelly Bean to the Nexus 4 back in July, some users stumbled upon a very handy privacy feature, called “App Ops”, hidden in the Developer’s section of the built-in settings application, which enabled them to “install apps while preventing the app from collecting sensitive data like the user’s location or address book” — which I am pretty sure we can all agree is a rather useful security function to have on our devices.

We reported on the good news of Sprint and HTC removing Carrier IQ from the HTC EVO 3D yesterday, but what would you say if I told you HTC has confirmed that Sprint will be phasing out Carrier IQ completely. I’m guessing the first thing you’ll do is remove that silly tinfoil hat from your head, then perhaps go outside again. Kidding aside, we knew this was coming, and it’s nice to see some confirmation on the subject.