Realme collects personal data of its smartphone users without their knowledge, Govt. orders probe
Realme devices (smartphones) offered a feature called Enhanced Intelligent Services which collected user’s data like call logs, SMS, location info etc. and it was turned on by default.
Since the advent of Realme UI 4.0 there has been a concern among users about pre-installed bloatware apps. The update was a concern about data collection too. Data collection from user’s smartphone without their knowledge has raised a concern about the privacy of the users. A Twitter user had pointed about the issue explicitly on the platform.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the Minister of State for Information Technology and Electronics has ordered a probe into the issue. The particular concern was initially pointed out by Twitter user Rishi Bagree on the platform. Realme devices (smartphones) offered a feature called Enhanced Intelligent Services which collected user’s data like call logs, SMS, location info etc. and it was turned on by default.
The Enhanced Intelligent Services is described as a feature that improves the user experience by optimizing the functions of the device that are based on how a user uses his device. The feature collects multiple information including user information, device information, location information, app usage statistics, calendar events, etc.
Users can access the feature by going to Settings -> Additional Settings -> System Services -> Enhanced Intelligent Services. However, the regular users are kept at dark as the feature is kept on by default. The Twitter user questioned whether data was being sent to China or not. To be specific, users were quite angry on Realme’s data collection methods which were without their consent.
Will hv this tested and checked @rishibagree
copy: @GoI_MeitY https://t.co/4hkA5YWsIg
— Rajeev Chandrasekhar 🇮🇳 (@Rajeev_GoI) June 16, 2023
Some of the OnePlus users we quite prompt to reply that they too had such settings (Enhanced Intelligent Services) turned on by default on their smartphones and they turned it off after being informed about it.
However, without any additional knowledge about the storage and data transmission, it is quite improper to say that the data collected with Enhanced Intelligent services are sent to servers in China. Realme has not responded to the tweet till the article was written.
Ms Kalinga