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OnePlus OxygenOS built-in analytics

chrisdcmoore.co.uk

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Re: OnePlus OxygenOS built-in analytics

#111

Post by Insanity »

rightos wrote: post #75
tga wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you live in or travel to the US, but don't have anything to do with China, it makes more sense to prefer your data to be spied on by the Chinese, doesn't it?

It's an interesting case - they're unlikely to have any legal impact on me and my ad views are probably of very low value to them, lacking even a common language with most ads. Some people feel more comfortable with a government they voted in having their information, but ultimately one that's in some ways an adversary of your state is far less likely to have any impact on your life than one which is in your own stat…

But the government they voted for tends to change every couple of years. And I doubt they wipe all data from before the elections.

Re: OnePlus OxygenOS built-in analytics

#112

Post by wastedhours »

melvintamray wrote: post #34

The purpose of buying a OnePlus device is to get decent hardware for an okay price (I have the 3T), and then take advantage of their unlocked bootloader and the multitudes of highly functional kernels for it. Sultan's LineageOS ROMs are quite nice and even include WireGuard. If you're not immediately removing non-free OxygenOS when you receive your phone, you're most certainly already doing it wrong, data collection…

> The purpose of buying a OnePlus device is to get decent hardware for an okay price

Think you might need a full stop there. OP might have a reputation amongst the "root/flash/ROM" brigade, but that by no means makes up all of their userbase, and user-blaming that it's your own fault for not randomly knowing about custom flavours of Android isn't really helpful.

This is consumer software, on a consumer product, by a consumer company, that's doing something that raises genuine questions about personal privacy and the access to information we give to hardware manufacturers. The default answer to all of this really shouldn't be "install random OS XYZ", in the same way that questioning Windows 10 analytics isn't "just install Arch".

Re: OnePlus OxygenOS built-in analytics

#113

Post by davidsong »

Yhippa wrote: post #108
CharlesDodgson wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did this for 2 months, mainly forced to, I had my phone stolen, it was kinda nice, I read more newspapers and learnt i could send SMS messages from payphones!

> learnt i could send SMS messages from payphones How did you manage this?

Whistling lessons from Kevin Mitnick

Re: OnePlus OxygenOS built-in analytics

#114

Post by wastedhours »

jchw wrote: post #103
pkrefta wrote: post #8

Holy moly O_o. Those kind of stories are keeping me back from buying any Android devices in nearest future. Somebody might say that I can flash it with clean Android ROM but that's great for people who have too much time :-)

You could make the "too much time" argument about reinstalling Windows or installing Linux when you get a device. Flashing may take some extra time, but it's not harder than normal expected device maintenance usually.

"expected device maintenance" by whom?

Anecdata, but 90% of people I know have never installed Linux (and the few times I've had to try and find recovery discs, going to bet reinstalling Windows is at about the same percentage), and not sure I know anyone who's flashed a new ROM on Android.

I'm genuinely curious as to where this expectation that everyone should be au fait with OS tinkering comes from?

Re: OnePlus OxygenOS built-in analytics

#115

Post by consto »

lucideer wrote: post #26
CharlesDodgson wrote: post #13

I have absolutely no doubt there is some data centre in Shenzhen full of my Huawei phone metrics! I think this is the biggest issue with android phones, they are full of potential data leakages like this. Privacy is definitely a concern and a pull factor to getting an iPhone again. There is a lot to be said for a company that is focused on hardware and not on serving content to that device. Then again it's also a rea…

> I feel I can trust Google with my data more than some other android manufacturer or reseller. Sure they'll serve me more adverts, but it's to some ends at least. I'm not sure I understand this logic. Can you explain your reasoning here? What makes Google different? Is it just about data security (e.g. you don't care what anyone does with your data as long as they don't leak it publicly)?

If nothing else by buying a phone manufactured by google and running stock android, you need to trust one less party.

Re: OnePlus OxygenOS built-in analytics

#116

Post by apocalyptic0n3 »

mxstbr wrote: post #43

TL;DR: OxygenOS tracks your every activity in every app, and there's no settings to disable the tracking. To get rid of it you have to uninstall the tracking app via adb: (no root access needed) $ adb start-server $ adb shell > pm uninstall -k --user 0 net.oneplus.odm Note: This requires adb to be installed, your phone to be connected and USB debugging to be enabled.

This is great, but what is to prevent them from re-installing in an update? Or throwing it in a service that can't be uninstalled?

In my mind, the only options are either dumping your OnePlus or flashing a third party ROM (I plan to flash Lineage tonight and probably start shopping for a replacement for my OP3 as well)

Re: OnePlus OxygenOS built-in analytics

#117

Post by severine »

dTal wrote: post #95
amelius wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This makes me wonder: why can we have a top of the line desktop PC which is totally libre, but not a smartphone? What has gone wrong?

That we ever had "libre" desktops is an accident of history resulting from home computers, widespread internet access, and awareness of public key crypto arising in that order . IBM took on the personal computer market and made the PC standard, which launched the chain of backwards compatibility that continues to this day. Because they did this in 1981, the idea of "secure bootloaders" was not on their radar. By the…

Of course I've upvoted your comment, well written and informative, but it's a very very sad upvote.

Re: OnePlus OxygenOS built-in analytics

#118

Post by gruturo »

lucideer wrote: post #26
CharlesDodgson wrote: post #13

I have absolutely no doubt there is some data centre in Shenzhen full of my Huawei phone metrics! I think this is the biggest issue with android phones, they are full of potential data leakages like this. Privacy is definitely a concern and a pull factor to getting an iPhone again. There is a lot to be said for a company that is focused on hardware and not on serving content to that device. Then again it's also a rea…

> I feel I can trust Google with my data more than some other android manufacturer or reseller. Sure they'll serve me more adverts, but it's to some ends at least. I'm not sure I understand this logic. Can you explain your reasoning here? What makes Google different? Is it just about data security (e.g. you don't care what anyone does with your data as long as they don't leak it publicly)?

> I'm not sure I understand this logic. Can you explain your reasoning here? What makes Google different?

The cynic in me would suggest that on a Google phone, only Google gets to peek at what you do, otherwise it's Google plus the vendor. Also - Google, despite being a bit too nosy for my own comfort, at least is likely to have decent security, so this data is less likely to get exfiltrated and end up published (or sold on a darknet).

Re: OnePlus OxygenOS built-in analytics

#119

Post by guelo »

dom96 wrote: post #106
sgwealti wrote: post #101

I'm a OP3 owner and I love my phone. I don't mind that they do this -- especially if it means that they can use the data to improve the OS/fix bugs but they should clearly notify users that they do this kind of logging/data gathering so that people can make an informed decision about the device they are buying.

I'm an OP3T owner and I dislike my phone. This may just be the straw that breaks the camels back for me. It would be fine if they asked me explicitly whether I am happy for them to collect these statistics and to offer a way to disable this, but as it is right now this is just unacceptable. The more time I spend with this phone the more I believe that Apple aligns with my interests more (plus their hardware is simply…

Why do you think Apple does not collect device analytics?

Re: OnePlus OxygenOS built-in analytics

#120

Post by tuxxy »

apocalyptic0n3 wrote: post #116
mxstbr wrote: post #43

TL;DR: OxygenOS tracks your every activity in every app, and there's no settings to disable the tracking. To get rid of it you have to uninstall the tracking app via adb: (no root access needed) $ adb start-server $ adb shell > pm uninstall -k --user 0 net.oneplus.odm Note: This requires adb to be installed, your phone to be connected and USB debugging to be enabled.

This is great, but what is to prevent them from re-installing in an update? Or throwing it in a service that can't be uninstalled? In my mind, the only options are either dumping your OnePlus or flashing a third party ROM (I plan to flash Lineage tonight and probably start shopping for a replacement for my OP3 as well)

Flashing a third party ROM is probably your best bet.

I'm curious to what phones you're considering to replace your OP3 with, though.

For myself, I've been looking for something that has "much better than average" security and, unfortunately for any mobile platform, that looks like it's probably not going to happen.

The closest ROM I've found is CopperheadOS, but it is only supported on a few devices.

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