A study has found that Chinese OnePlus, Xiaomi, and Oppo phones collect a dangerous amount of user information
China is the world's largest smartphone market and over 70 percent of handsets in the country run Android. Researchers from the University of Edinburgh and Trinity College Dublin have found that OnePlus, Xiaomi, and Oppo Realme smartphones sold in China transmit large swathes of data to various parties without user consent. The phones come pre-installed with a large number of system and vendor apps with dangerous privileges enabled by default.
The study assumed that the owner was a privacy-aware consumer who opted out of analytics and did not use cloud storage and optional third-party services.device identifiers like IMEI number and MAC addresssettings and information associated with you such as phone number, app usage patterns, and app performance dataUsers are not notified about this data transmission and there is no way to opt out of it either.
This data can easily be de-anonymized to identify a person and used for tracking. The Personally Identifiable Information is sent to device vendors, Chinese network operators , and service providers like Baidu. The analysis was conducted on mobile devices sold in China which run local Android distributions, so consumers in international markets need not worry. Consumers who bought their devices in China, such as business travelers and students, should be wary though, as the study found that the data collection behaviors do not change even after a user leaves the country.
The Chinese versions of Android overlays have three to four times more preinstalled third-party apps than international versions intended for consumers in Europe and elsewhere and are granted eight to ten times more permissions.Get the most important news, reviews and deals in mobile tech delivered straight to your inbox
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Silverman: OnePlus 11 is a tempting Android phone at a great price, but corners are cutMeet the OnePlus 11 5G, the latest phone from a manufacturer owned by Oppo. The company has a reputation for making devices that undercut prices from the big guys while still coming close their capabilities, writes tech columnist Dwight Silverman.
Read more »
United States Sanctions Six Chinese Firms amid Spy Balloon IncidentThe U.S. Commerce Department on Friday announced sanctions against six Chinese aerospace companies in connection with the Chinese spy balloon that U.S. military officials shot down last weekend after it traversed U.S. airspace.
Read more »
OnePlus 11 Review: A Quality Phone at a Competitive PriceReview: While the OnePlus 11 has done more to catch up with market leaders, it isn't quite enough to push those competitors aside.
Read more »
The Oppo Find N2 Flip will launch internationally on 15 FebruaryThe device will likely not launch in the US, but it could be rebranded and released as a OnePlus foldable later in 2023.
Read more »
The Oppo Find N3 might beat the Galaxy Z Fold 4 at its own gameNew leaks point at the possibility of Oppo's next flagship foldable phone to come with a larger screen than that on the Galaxy Z Fold 4.
Read more »
OnePlus Now Has Its Own Android TabletPlus: Netflix expands its efforts to end password sharing, Apple’s “buy now, pay later” entry creeps closer, and we scrutinize your Bitcoin spending.
Read more »