Realme, a Chinese smartphone manufacturer, has come under scrutiny from the government due to concerns over user privacy arising from its data collection feature. The Minister of State for Information Technology and Electronics, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, has ordered an investigation into Realme’s “Enhanced Intelligent Services” feature, which automatically captures sensitive user data such as call logs, SMS messages, and location information upon device setup.
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The default setting of Realme’s Enhanced Intelligent Services, which obligates users to share their data without explicit consent, has raised criticism for deviating from standard privacy practices. Typically, users are given the choice to decide whether to share their data. By enabling this feature without clear notification or user agreement, Realme has been accused of keeping Indian users unaware of their data being collected and potentially shared.
To access the Enhanced Intelligent Services setting on a Realme smartphone, users must navigate through a convoluted pathway in the system settings. This buried setting makes it less likely for users to be aware of the default data collection feature and the option to disable it.
Concerns about data security have also been raised. While Realme is a Chinese manufacturer, it is important to note that data collection does not automatically indicate that the data is being sent to China. Without explicit information from Realme about data storage and transmission, it is difficult to confirm whether the data collected by Enhanced Intelligent Services is being sent to servers in China.
Realme experienced a 52% year-on-year decline in Q1 2023, resulting in a drop to fifth place with a 9% market share, according to Counterpoint Research.