realme, the India-based mobile phone company, was recently placed in the spotlight for collecting user data without their explicit consent through its user interface, realme UI 4.0. This news was confirmed by Minister of Electronics and Technology of India, Rajeev Chandrasekhar. The brand is known worldwide for its products with excellent value for money: how will it come out?
Users in India raise privacy concerns about realme UI 4.0 collecting data without consent
The matter arose when some users discovered that realme UI 4.0 has a feature called “Enhanced Intelligent Services” enabled automatically. This feature was developed as an assistant to improve device performance based on user usage. However, to carry out this task, the function collects a variety of information, including device data, application usage statistics, calendar events, statistics on Message SMS not Read and missed calls.
In addition, “Enhanced Intelligent Services” requires access to the user's location, which has raised privacy concerns among Indian users. It is unclear whether the collected data remains on the phone or is sent to external servers. Many users find it problematic that this feature is enabled by defaultrather than asking for consent during initial device setup or after receiving the latest update.
realme India has not yet commented on the matter. However, users who wish to disable this feature can do so by going to Settings > Additional Settings > System Services and turning off Advanced Smart Services. It is important to note that smartphones too Oppo e OnePlus, which belong to the BBK group, have the same function. The process for turning it off is essentially the same. This is not the first issue realme faces with its users in India. In the past, many have complained on social media about the presence of a excessive number of ads and bloatware actually UI 4.0.
La data collection without consent of the user is a serious matter concerning privacy and trust. It is essential that companies are transparent and accountable in their handling of their customers' personal data.
