User spots OnePlus 3T sending their clipboard data to servers in China
OnePlus gets in hot water every now and again over privacy concerns, and now, there's another little controversy brewing. A keen OnePlus 3T user who happened to be monitoring the traffic that goes in and out of their network noticed something weird when they updated to the latest beta build for their device. Apparently, the handset was sending clipboard information directly to AliBaba Group servers.
So, basically, anything you hit "copy" on — web addresses, contacts, photos, etc. — can be sent over to AliBaba, which is one of the biggest e-commerce sites to come out of China.
OnePlus has since commented that this was supposed to only happen on the Chinese build of its operating system — HydrogenOS — and not be live on the global edition, which is OxygenOS. The company assures us that the OxygenOS beta will be promptly updated to remove the clipboard "feature". OnePlus continued to explain that the data does not get saved on any server and that such practices are common on devices sold in China.
OnePlus has since commented that this was supposed to only happen on the Chinese build of its operating system — HydrogenOS — and not be live on the global edition, which is OxygenOS. The company assures us that the OxygenOS beta will be promptly updated to remove the clipboard "feature". OnePlus continued to explain that the data does not get saved on any server and that such practices are common on devices sold in China.
Things that are NOT allowed: