HTC just sent us a statement about the Carrier IQ smartphone tracking software — it says it has no formal relationship with Carrier IQ, but that the software is "required on devices by a number of US carriers," and that consumers should talk to their carrier about what data may or may not be collected. That certainly sounds like a bit of a cop-out, especially since the first word we got of Carrier IQ's tracking potential came from a video of an HTC Evo 3D, but HTC isn't sitting still — it also says it's investigating ways to allow consumers to opt-out of Carrier IQ data collection. Let's hope that investigation goes quickly. The full statement:

Carrier IQ is required on devices by a number of U.S carriers so if consumers or media have any questions about the practices relating to, or data collected by, Carrier IQ we'd advise them to contact their carrier.

It is important to note that HTC is not a customer or partner of Carrier IQ and does not receive data from the application, the company, or carriers that partner with Carrier IQ. HTC is investigating the option to allow consumers to opt-out of data collection by the Carrier IQ application.

Of course, Sprint is largest carrier so far on record as using Carrier IQ and Verizon has denied it, so we're curious as to who the others are — we'll let you know what we find out.