OnePlus Logs A Lot of Personal User Data →

October 11, 2017 · 10:48

Chris Moore:

OK, so it looks like they’re collecting timestamped (the ts field is the event time in milliseconds since unix epoch, which we’ll be seeing more of) metrics on certain events, some of which I understand – from a development point of view, wanting to know about abnormal reboots seems legitimate – but the screen on/off and unlock activities feel excessive. At least these are anonymised, right? Well, not really – taking a closer look at the ID field, it seems familiar; this is my phone’s serial number. This I’m less enthusiastic about, as this can be used by OnePlus to tie these events back to me personally (but only because I bought the handset directly from them, I suppose) […]

Amongst other things, this time we have the phone’s IMEI(s), phone numbers, MAC addresses, mobile network(s) names and IMSI prefixes, as well as my wireless network ESSID and BSSID and, of course, the phone’s serial number. Wow, that’s quite a bit of information about my device, even more of which can be tied directly back to me by OnePlus and other entities.

It gets worse.

This is one of the reasons I go iPhone. Apple isn’t perfect, but there’s less shit to worry about.


OnePlus Issuing Refunds for Their USB-C Cables →

November 26, 2015 · 13:04

OnePlus:

Listening to our community and the broader tech community is extremely important to us. You all are the reason we exist in the first place. We owe it to you to deliver the best products possible – and to fix problems when we come across them. So we want to fix this.

If you’ve purchased the OnePlus USB Type-C cable or adapter on the OnePlus website as standalone products to use with devices other than the OnePlus 2, we are going to offer an opportunity to apply for a refund. Please note that cables that were included in the box with your OnePlus 2 are not eligible for a refund, since they are safe to use with the OnePlus 2.

I have one of these cables and since learning it could break my gear, I stopped using it. A friend of mine will take it of my hands however, so I won’t bother returning it. Yes, he knows.


Google Engineer Warns Not to Use OnePlus USB to USB Type C Cable →

November 19, 2015 · 12:49

Benson Leung:

It is not spec compliant (uses a 3A identifier resistor instead of the “Default USB Power” one), and may cause damage to your charger, hub, or PC USB port if you use it with Chromebook Pixel, Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X.

I have one of these and have been using it to connect my Apple TV 4 and MacBook Pro to record video. No damage so far, but I’m having second thoughts now…