The study reveals that Samsung, Xiaomi, Huawei and Realme Android variants all transmit a huge amount of data to the OS developer but also to third parties that have pre-installed system apps (including Google, Microsoft, LinkedIn, Facebook). It is also clear from this study that aside from /e/OS, all Android variants tested prevent users from escaping microtargeting via advertising identifiers. All use long-lived identifiers that can be linked to the same device again and again.
Finally, on every handset, apart from the /e/OS handset, Google also collects a significant volume of data. The study highlights that the amount of data collected by Google can up 10x that uploaded by the mobile OS developer. For manufacturers like Xiaomi, Huawei and Realme the volume rises to around 30x.
Even the most privacy conscious users, unchecking options to share data and only following mandatory terms and conditions, will not be safe with those variants.
We’re pleased with the results of this research, as they illustrate really well our claims and our core principle of auditable privacy.
Find out more about this research in our latest blog post