There is a lot of FUD – fear, uncertainty, and deception – about Chinese-made smartphones spying. It is liberally spread by some media on the payroll of non-Chinese companies wanting to cash in on the rising anti-China sentiment. It is all bovine-excrement.
CyberShack is not a political publication. Any China sentiment you may have, or not, is based on your take on Chinese attitudes to Australia’s exports, potential annexation of Taiwan, alleged repression of Uyghurs, and the increasing presence in the South Pacific.
This is a detailed article, so if you want the spoiler: Chinese-made smartphones are not spying on you.
Define spying
Every smartphone, Chinese or not, ‘spies’ on you. By spying, it tracks time, location, device ID/Details/IMEI, and so much more. The real question is where that metadata ends up (discussed later).
Telstra/Optus/Vodafone need device/location details to allow you to make and receive calls/SMS. They may monetise that metadata by selling it to data brokers. Only in subpoena circumstances can law enforcement intercept your phone calls and SMS.
Apple and Google spy on you, ostensibly to help you with search, maps and more to deliver location-relevant suggestions. But they gather so much more to help them deliver relevant advertising to you and try to keep you in their ecosystems. You have to trust Apple and Google if you want to use their smartphone operating systems, and neither sell your data.
But it does not stop there.
Third-party Apps track you and monetise that data.
Smartphone makers cannot control third-party apps, even if paid to pre-install them. Our advice is to uninstall every App you do not need.
The bad guys are Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Twitter, TikTok, Zoom, Weather, and thousands more that plant cookies and trackers, offering a free service in return for massive data harvesting. Ask why a flashlight needs access to the phone, contacts, photos, and operating system. It is sucking your data up and selling it.
One app is potentially dangerous – read TikTok is a wolf in sheep’s clothing – FCC commissioner calls for US ban. And we think anything related to Zuckerberg is suspect as Meta’s entire business model is to gather and monetise your data.
Google made significant security strides in Android 10/11/12 and more in Android 13 to safeguard your data and limit App permissions to what they need to operate. That is why we state that you should not use a pre-Android 10 phone.
Some smartphone makers add extra protection – Samsung Knox, OPPO (secure folders, sandbox, all extracted data is encrypted and anonymised), Motorola (Lenovo Think Shield option) and more.
Any spying is more likely to involve the User Interface (UI)
As the West has adopted Android and iOS, which US companies control, the operating system should be safe and free from spyware – apart from the data collected by Google and Apple.
Google does not exist in China
Of more concern is the User Interfaces (UIs).
User Interfaces
Apart from Google Pixel and Nokia, all makers have a UI. It helps to maximise hardware performance and add value to Google Android. That is a good thing.
But some UIs go too far. For example, the first and second generations of TCL phones had a proprietary UI launcher. In 2020, it and TCL brand Alcatel was implicated in a massive Chinese spyware operation. …….
Source: https://cybershack.com.au/opinion/are-chinese-made-smartphones-spying-on-me/