India gov’t to investigate realme’s usage data collection feature that is enabled by default

Last week, an Indian citizen took to Twitter his discovery of a feature of his realme device that was enabled by default and was purportedly collecting his usage data, including call logs, messages, location, and calendar events.

Rishi Bagree, who discovered the feature, has described it as “basically forced consent” and questioned whether this data is “being sent to China”. Following this issue, the India Minister of State for Information Technology, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, has said that they “will [have] this tested and checked”.

Will hv this tested and checked @rishibagree

copy: @GoI_MeitY https://t.co/4hkA5YWsIg

— Rajeev Chandrasekhar 🇮🇳 (@Rajeev_GoI) June 16, 2023

The said feature, called “Enhanced Intelligent Services” is unexpectedly just hiding in plain sight—accessible in a few taps through the phone’s Settings (Settings -> Additional Settings -> System Services -> Enhanced Intelligent Services).

In the replies, other users also say that the feature is also enabled by default on OnePlus, realme’s sister brand under BBK Electronics mothership—a Guangzhou-based company in China.

This is by default enabled with One plus phone too. pic.twitter.com/zxHDLEd1Kj

— CDAS (@chinmayicysun) June 16, 2023

The phone’s settings indicate that the Enhanced Intelligent Services feature is necessary for several functions. For instance, the charging optimization feature needs access to location information and app usage statistics, while the wallpapers and other personalization features require data on unread messages, missed calls, and other crucial information.

Upon verifying, we can confirm that the Enhanced Intelligent Services feature is enabled by default on our realme 10 Pro+ 5G, but interestingly, it is not present on the realme C53.

One thing is certain: sending diagnostic data is not a stranger in smartphone brands. Xiaomi and Samsung also have a similar approach to “send diagnostic data” of sorts. However, what is bothersome is where the data is sent, how the data is managed, and most importantly, why the feature is enabled without the user’s consent.