[Update]: Finally, OnePlus admitted that they collect their users’ private data due to some reasons, but promises to stop this by the end of October 2017.
The increasing penetration of smartphone has its own side effects, and stealing users’ personal data is one of the most crucial ones amongst all. OnePlus, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer is been found storing a lot of personal data of its device users’ without their consent. And, to insult the injury, OnePlus decided to go silent when the problem is highlighted to the support forum of the company.
Christopher Moore, an Onplus 2 user, has accused OnePlus of collecting a lot of device information and app usage pattern that he feels is unethical. As a part of Hackathon Challenge, when he connected his OnePlus 2 to a proxy for monitoring the internet traffic from his device, he noticed a lot of unnecessary request to an AWS server hosted in the US.
On further investigation, he learnt that his smartphone is sending a lot of device information to an official microsite of OnePlus. Initially, he didn’t rattle much as the transmitted information was carrying his device IMEI number, screen lock/unlock information, Mac Address, Wireless Network and Mobile network information. However, after digging further deep into the matter, he was left astounded.
His OnePlus 2 was not only recording and transmitting device curial information, but also monitoring usage patterns of all apps installed. Undoubtedly, having access to such vital piece of information a company can know a lot about the personal preferences of a smartphone user. The illegitimate interference can also have adverse effects on a smartphone user’s personal life as well.
But the ordeal of Christopher doesn’t end here.
He was surprised by the response from Onleplus support team after he brought the matter into their notice. The clueless support team of OnePlus suggesting him bizarre ways to fix the ‘issue‘.
Hey @OnePlus_Support, it's none of your business when I turn my screen on/off or unlock my phone – how do I turn this off? /cc:@troyhunt pic.twitter.com/VihaIDI6wP
— Christopher Moore (@chrisdcmoore) January 13, 2017
Alright. Please try doing a hard reset https://t.co/1qyq9XajiJ and see if there are improvements.
— OnePlus Support (@OnePlus_Support) January 13, 2017
Try wiping out the cache.Turn off your device>Power key + volume down>English>Wipe and cache>Wipe Cache>Confirm wipe>Reboot.
— OnePlus Support (@OnePlus_Support) January 13, 2017
Christopher soon realised that OnePlus support team may not be authorised to suggest a legitimate solution even if they want to.
So, how to stop OnePlus from peeping into your device? The good news is, you don’t have to root your device. All you need to do is uninstall OnePlus Device Manager App via adb. The solution is a bit technical but if you manage to get it done with the help of any of your developer friend.
