Xiaomi, Realme and OnePlus will spy on mobiles, according to research

Some Chinese manufacturers such as Xiaomi, OnePlus, and Realme (born as a sub-brand of Oppo) collect an alarming amount of user data and forward it to various parties without the user’s consent. A new study by researchers at the University of Edinburgh and Trinity College Dublin demonstrates this by analyzing China, the world’s largest smartphone market, where 70% of devices in the country are Android.

Models used for the study, OnePlus 9R, Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 and Realme Q3 Pro. It has been determined that the collection of confidential data takes place through the relevant operating systems and various applications pre-installed on the devices.

Some of the possible information shared without user consent are:

• device identifiers such as IMEI number and MAC address;
• location identifiers, such as GPS coordinates, that can indicate the current location;
• User-related settings and information, such as phone number, application usage patterns, and application performance data;
• Social data such as call and SMS history and contact numbers.

What are the concerns about data collection?

The research suggests that all data collection and transmission will occur without notice or consent. Researchers fear that the devices will send an alarming amount of personally identifiable information not only to the smartphone vendor but also to service providers such as Baidu and Chinese mobile network operators.

“Overall, our findings paint a depressing picture of the user data privacy situation in the world’s largest Android market, and highlight the urgent need for stricter privacy controls to increase trust among ordinary people in tech companies, many of which are partially state-owned,” they report.

The study shows that there is no way to cancel this data collection and it does not stop even when the device and user leave China. However, the fact that different countries have different privacy laws should affect the way information is collected. Suppliers have not yet commented on the study.