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Chinese phones from OnePlus, Xiaomi, and Oppo are laced with spyware

By Anam Hamid

Published: Feb 12, 2023, 7:36 AM

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Chinese phones from OnePlus, Xiaomi, and Oppo are laced with spyware

Makers of the best Chinese Android smartphones collect an alarming amount of data that can be traced back to individuals, a new study indicates.

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. (via Gizmodo)

Researchers scrutinized OnePlus 9R, Xiaomi Redmi Note 11, and OPPO Realme Q3 Pro

The phones come pre-installed with a large number of system and vendor apps with dangerous privileges enabled by default. This allows them to collect and transmit identifiable information related to a device's persistent identifiers, location, user profile, and and owner's social relationships.

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.

These phones are potentially sending information unique to your device and you such as:

device identifiers like IMEI number and MAC address
location identifiers such as GPS coordinates which can reveal your current location
settings and information associated with you such as phone number, app usage patterns, and app performance data
social data such as call and SMS history and contact numbers

Users 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 (PII) is sent to device vendors, Chinese network operators (regardless of whether you have a SIM inserted), 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.

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Anam Hamid is a computer scientist turned tech journalist who has a keen interest in the tech world, with a particular focus on smartphones and tablets. She has previously written for Android Headlines and has also been a ghostwriter for several tech and car publications. Anam is not a tech hoarder and believes in using her gadgets for as long as possible. She is concerned about smartphone addiction and its impact on future generations, but she also appreciates the convenience that phones have brought into our lives. Anam is excited about technological advancements like folding screens and under-display sensors, and she often wonders about the future of technology. She values the overall experience of a device more than its individual specs and admires companies that deliver durable, high-quality products. In her free time, Anam enjoys reading, scrolling through Reddit and Instagram, and occasionally refreshing her programming skills through tutorials.