According to a new research report, buying a Chinese phone while in China doesn’t seem like a good idea. According to the report, private data is passed on to third parties by the phones’ firmware without user consent, regardless of whether it is located outside of China.
The report, which comes from the University of Edinburgh and Trinity College Dublin, has analyzed phones from the brands OnePlus, Xiaomi and Oppo and has excluded user-installed software. The study found that the phones collect an “alarming” amount of data, despite users not creating an account or using cloud services of any kind. In addition, the data must not only go back to the manufacturers, but also to network operators. It should be things like location data, app usage and contact information shared without consent.
It was also found that the Chinese phones had three to four times more pre-installed apps and up to ten times more permissions than those sold in the global market. It is also pointed out how these phones collect data from, for example, Chinese exchange students and how their contacts can be tracked, despite the fact that other laws apply outside of China.
The entire study is available to read here.
nyteknik.se
Mobile, Other,
China mobiles, China, OnePlus, Oppo, Xiaomi, Realme
Thanks to Matthias
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