After several reported incidents of Chinese smartphone manufacturer OnePlus that collected data from its users and transmitted the information to a server, OnePlus Co-founder Carl Pei has explained why the data was being collected and also confirmed to scale back data to its devices.
OnePlus collected the phone’s IMEI, phone number. Responding to the reports Pei said, “the reason we collect usage analytics through the user experience programme is so we can better understand general phone behaviour and optimise OxygenOS for a better overall user experience”.
Additionally, Pei said that at any time, users can opt-out of usage analytics collection by navigating to 'Settings' -> 'Advanced' -> 'Join user experience programme'.
If you opt out of the user experience programme, your usage analytics will not be tied to your device information.
The company also said that at no point they have shared this information with outside parties and by the end of October, all OnePlus phones running OxygenOS will have a prompt in the setup wizard that asks users if they want to join our user experience programme.
The setup wizard will clearly indicate that the programme collects usage analytics. In addition, OnePlus will include a terms of service agreement that further explains our analytics collection. The company stated that they will no longer be collecting telephone numbers, MAC Addresses and WiFi information.
“We take privacy very seriously and do not share analytics with third parties. Our intention has always been to better serve our users. Looking ahead, we will continue working directly with our users to do so. We appreciate your patience and feedback,” Pei added.
