A new study posted on arxiv.org shows that manufacturers of
China’s most popular Android smartphones collect a large amount of easily
traceable personal data. Specifically, OnePlus 9R, Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 and
Realme Q3 Pro, studied in the study, are transmitting data to China.
China is the world’s largest smartphone market, with over 70% of
phones in the country running Android. Researchers from the University of
Edinburgh and Trinity College Dublin have found that OnePlus, Xiaomi and Oppo
Realme smartphones sold in China are transmitting large amounts of data to
various parties without the user’s consent.
Phones come with a lot of preinstalled system and third party
apps with dangerous privileges enabled by default. This allows them to collect
and share identifiable information related to persistent device identifiers,
location, user profile, and owner social relationships.
The study assumed that the owner is a privacy-conscious consumer
who forgoes analytics and does not use cloud storage and additional third-party
services. Even so, smartphones send information that is unique to a particular
device, such as:
Device identifiers such as the IMEI number and MAC address GPS
coordinates that show the current location of the device Settings and
user-related information such as phone number, application usage patterns and
performance data Social data such as call and SMS history and contact numbers
Users are not notified of the transfer of data, nor is it
possible to opt out of it. This data can be easily tied to a specific owner and
can be used to track activity and movements. Personal information is sent to
device providers, Chinese network operators (whether or not a SIM card is
inserted), and service providers such as Baidu.
The analysis was conducted on mobile devices sold in China and
running local Android distributions. Consumers who bought their devices in
China should be careful as research has shown that data collection continues
even if the user is outside of China.
There are many more third-party applications pre-installed in
Chinese device firmware than in international versions intended for consumers
in Europe and other countries. The number of permissions granted to programs
also significantly differ upwards.
For Ukrainian users, the potential danger is the transfer of
personal data to China when using devices originally intended for the Chinese
market, purchased on Aliexpress or in any other way. Obviously, the danger
remains when using Chinese device firmware, which can be downloaded from the
network and installed on a smartphone. Anticipating the “What difference does
it make if my data goes to China?” Recall that China and the aggressor state
Russia are friendly countries and can exchange data.
The US Senate has banned TikTok on all devices of government
employees. Bill submitted to ban all social networks associated with
totalitarian countries
https://www.aroged.com/2023/02/13/smartphones-with-chinese-firmware-will-send-your-personal-data-to-china-a-study-by-the-university-of-edinburgh-and-trinity-college/
China Installs 20 Million of the ‘World’s Most Advanced’
AI Surveillance Cameras to Track People
https://nextshark.com/china-installs-20-million-worlds-advanced-ai-surveillance-cameras-track-people
No comments:
Post a Comment