OnePlus is collecting lots of data on its users without telling them

It’s not uncommon for Google or Apple to collect data in order to “improve your user experience” with their products, but it’s something else entirely when companies do it without telling you. That seems to be the case with OnePlus, which has been collecting massive amounts of data on its users.

The problem was first highlighted by Christopher Moore on his personal blog, where he admits that he connected his OnePlus 2 to a proxy for monitoring internet traffic from the device as part of a Hackathon Challenge. While monitoring traffic, he found that OnePlus was collecting a lot of user data like IMEI numbers, MAC addresses, and even timestamps for when you lock/unlock your phone or the screen turns off.

The data collected even returns the timestamps for when you open and closed apps, so your wife may not know about your porn browsing history, but OnePlus certainly does. Moore highlights that he was able to see the time periods when he had Slack and Microsoft Outlook open down to the millisecond, all stamped with his phone’s serial number which ties him directly to the device since he bought it from OnePlus.

The good news is that a solution has been found for uninstalling the OnePlus System Service that does the reporting of analytics data. You can remove it via ADB and your phone doesn’t need to be rooted in order to do so.

How to remove OnePlus System Service App

1. Install ADB on your computer.
2. Plug your device into your computer via USB.
3. Enable USB debugging on your device.
4. Execute the following command:

If you’re a OnePlus user, let us know if you plan on disabling this service, since you don’t need to be rooted to do so.