By 
How we use our phones, how often we use our phones, where we use our phones, and more are extremely valuable pieces of data that allow companies to better understand their customers. It is also valuable to marketing companies and advertising agencies who can use that data to better craft ads that are more targeted and might have a greater chance of success.
That being said, YouTube channel Trakin Tech recently discovered a somewhat creepy feature in Realme’s 11 Pro+ 5G smartphone during a video review. The feature is called “Enhanced Intelligent Services” and is designed to “improve” the user experience by collecting certain bits of data on the user, like app usage statistics, location information, calendar events, unread SMS messages, call logs, and so on.
Realme's smartphone has a feature (Enhanced Intelligent Services) that captures the user's data (call logs, SMS, and location info) and it is "On" by default.
You can only see this "on" by default feature when you go to Settings -> Additional Settings -> System Services ->… pic.twitter.com/QS3f6wMF3R— Rishi Bagree (@rishibagree) June 16, 2023
It sounds very invasive and when the screenshot was shared, India’s Union Minister of State for Entrepreneurship, Skill Development, Electronics & Technology, Rajeev Chandrasekhar responded by saying that it will be looked into by the country’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
The good news is that this “Enhanced Intelligent Services” feature can be enabled or disabled by the user, although we’re not sure if this is an opt-in or opt-out feature (we’re hoping it’s the former). Realme has also since responded to the tweet with a statement that reads:
“Specific to the issue raised, we would like to clarify that the enhanced intelligent services feature is linked to optimising device usage to ensure that consumers get better battery life and temperature performance. However, contrary to the current description, we do not collect any data on SMS, phone calls, schedules, etc.
All data processed in this service is encrypted and stored in encrypted hardware within user’s device strictly in compliance with Android security mechanisms. This data is completely stored within the device and is not shared anywhere else or uploaded on the cloud. We place great emphasis on user privacy protection, the enhanced intelligent services feature can be manually turned on or off basis the needs of the consumers.”
So, if you happen to own a Realme handset, you’ll want to go to Settings -> Additional Settings -> System Services -> Enhanced Intelligent Services and turn it off if you’re not comfortable with sharing your data.
Source: Gadgets 360
Comments