It was recently discovered that OnePlus handsets were sending back a lot of analytics data to the company. It’s common for smartphones to send some data back to the manufacturer but in this case, it was a lot more than usual. Naturally, there was an outcry due to privacy concerns. OnePlus offered an explanation first but since that didn’t really do much to allay fears, it has now decided to restrain data collection.

The data that OnePlus phones send back to the company include the phone number, the handset’s IMEI number, MAC addresses, names of mobile networks, IMSI prefixes, the phone’s serial number, Wi-Fi connection info, and apps that have been opened.

The company’s first response was that this data collection was optional and that it was meant to improve the user experience. OnePlus also said that this data wasn’t being shared with anyone else and that users could disable it from the settings menu.

Nevertheless, having this level of data collection enabled by default meant that most users didn’t even know this was going on and hence were deprived of their right to choose whether they wanted to opt in or not.

OnePlus CEO Carl Pei has now said that by the end of this month, all OnePlus handsets running OxygenOS will display a prompt in the setup wizard that will ask users if they want to join the company’s experience program, meaning if they would like to opt-in.

The wizard will indicate that this program will collect usage analytics and will also include a terms of service agreement that further explains the data collection. OnePlus has also confirmed that it will no longer be collecting phone numbers, Wi-Fi information, and MAC addresses regardless of whether the user has opted in or not.

The company hasn’t said if existing users will be allowed to delete the data that has already been collected, since most of them won’t wipe their phones just to set them up again in order to opt out of this program.

Filed in Cellphones. Read more about . Source: forums.oneplus.net

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