Realme Disables Controversial Feature That Collects User Data: All Details

After the Indian government ordered an investigation into Realme smartphones for a controversial feature called Enhanced Intelligent Services, which automatically collects device information, including personal data such as call logs, SMS, and location information, the Chinese brand has now released a new update that will disable this feature on select models.

The newly-launched Realme 11 Pro and Realme 11 Pro+ smartphones are already receiving software updates that automatically disable the service requiring no action from users. We checked the new update on Realme 11 Pro+ review unit given to us by the brand, it clearly mentions that it has changed the description of the service.

In the new description, the smartphone brand has removed mention of the collection of app usage statistics, calendar events and statistics about unread messages and missed calls.

This comes after a screenshot of the Enhanced Intelligent Services feature was shared on Twitter by a user named Rishi Bagree, and it caught the attention of Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar.

“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 – > Enhanced Intelligent Services,” the user wrote on Twitter.

“Indian users are kept in the dark to share their data without their consent. This is basically forced consent since it’s on by default.

Is this data being sent to China?” he added.

In a reply, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the Minister of State for Information Technology, assured to conduct an investigation into the issue. “Will hv this tested and checked @rishibagree copy: @GoI_MeitY,” Chandrasekhar tweeted.

Later Realme issued an official statement and said that 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. The company complies with the local laws and regulations,” said Realme India in a statement.