Realme sets the record straight on data collection concerns for its phones

Realme has addressed the allegations of personal user data collection on its phones. Both the government and the public have raised concerns about how the Realme UI 4.0 feature called ‘Enhanced Intelligent Services’ takes an unwarranted amount of data. Here’s the full story so far.

Realme Enhanced Intelligent Service: What is it?

Enhanced Intelligent Service is a Realme UI 4.0 feature that comes enabled by default. You can find it within Settings > Advanced Settings > System Services. 

Within System Services, there is only this option. So, in a way, it seems buried in the settings and you have to click and scroll a while to reach it. The official description says it’s for improving the user experience by optimising the device functions based on how you use your device. 

Also Read: Realme 11 Pro vs Realme 11 Pro+ compared: Is Plus worth the extra money?

For this purpose, it collects the following information:

- Device Information

- App Usage Statistics

- Location Information

- Calendar Events

- Statistics about unread SMS messages and missed calls

And it seeks permission for:

- Location Information

- Connect to the internet

- Read your calendar events

- SMS messages and call logs

That’s a lot of things, you see. It was first spotted by the YouTube Channel TrakinTech in a recent video. This was then posted by a user named Rishi Bagree, to which the Minister of Electronics and Information Technology, Rajeev Chandrasekhar replied, “Will hv this tested and checked”. 

So, should you be concerned?

Also Read: Realme 11 Pro series launched in India: Here are 5 amazing features of the Realme 11 Pro Plus

Realme’s response to the data collection accusation

Realme says the data collected as part of the Enhanced Intelligent Services is encrypted and processed on the user’s device itself. It also claims that it doesn’t collect data like SMS, phone calls, and schedules, even though the settings’ description tells so.

Also, if you want to revoke some of the permissions sought as part of this feature, you can control the same within Settings > App > App management > Intelligent Services > Permissions.

Finally, if you want to completely turn it off, you can do so by going to Settings > Advanced Settings > System Services.

We will keep you posted on the matter if we come across any new developments. Keep reading.

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