According to Moore’s analysis, the obtained information involved his phone’s IMEI and serial number, phone numbers, MAC addresses, mobile network names and IMSI prefixes, and wireless network data. OnePlus was also getting data on when its users were initial applications and what they were doing in those apps, including Outlook and Slack. With the cat out of the bag, OnePlus revealed the non-consensual snooping in a post to its consumer service forum on Friday but said the purpose of the program was improving user knowledge on its OxygenOS software.
“The purpose we collect some device data is to better provide after-sales support,” OnePlus wrote. “If you opt out of the user experience program, your data analytics will not be tied to your device information.”
“We’d like to stress that at no point have we distributed this information with outside parties,” the company added. “The analytics we’re addressing in this post, which we only look at in aggregate, are gathered with the intention of improving our merchandise and service offerings.”
According to OnePlus, it will also stop receiving “telephone numbers, MAC Addresses, and WiFi information,” and by the end of October, the organization will clearly prompt all users on how and why it collects data and provide users with an option to not engage in its “user experience program.”
Multiple users answered by saying their concerns were not resolved, as some of the data collected like telephone numbers and wireless network information were of limited use from a support perspective and rather could have been mined for its value to marketers.
The opt-out provision also does not seem to actually stop the data collection, but simply discards tags linking the data to a specific device. So no interest which way you slice it, this is not a very good situation for OnePlus users to find themselves in. As Moore noted, there are few good options to stop the data gathering entirely.
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