Chinese spying row: OnePlus, Xiaomi, and Oppo phones sold in China loaded with spyware

Chinese smartphone companies selling their devices in China load the devices with a lot of bloatware that actually collect all sorts of data from users, and send it to the Chinese Communist Party. Researchers from the University of Edinburgh and Trinity College Dublin have found that the makers of some of the best selling Android smartphones, namely Oppo, Xioami and OnePlus, collect an alarming amount of data that can be traced back to individuals, and share it with Chinese authorities. Researchers from the Universities of Edinburgh and Dublin have discovered that smartphones made by OnePlus, Xiaomi, and Oppo Realme that are sold in China collect and transfer enormous amounts of data to several parties related to the CCP, without the users’ knowledge or permission. Smartphones from these manufacturers routinely collected and shared data that included device identifiers like IMEI number and MAC address, location identifiers such as GPS coordinates which can reveal your current location, settings and information associated with you such as phone number, app usage patterns, and app performance data, as well as social data such as call and SMS history and contact numbers.