HMD Global Sends Personal Data from Nokia 7 Plus to China, Admits Later

Nokia 7 Plus is one of the popular mid-range smartphones launched by HMD Global in 2018. According to the report from Norwegian site NRKbeta, Nokia 7 Plus was found sending the users data to a third party server in China in an unencrypted format. HMD Global started its Android journey by first launching its smartphone in China. It is also more focused on the world’s largest smartphone market where it first launches its new smartphones.

The Nokia 7 Plus was sending the data like IMEI number, MAC ID, SIM ICCID and also the ID of the nearest cell tower for location identification. The device was continuously sending all this data every time the phone is switched on and it happened for several months. Also, the data can be even used for individually tracking any of its users. According to the source, the Nokia 7 Plus smartphones are sending the data to a server owned by state-owned telecom company China Telecom.

HMD Global later admitted the device was mistakenly sending the users data to China. It was because of using the activation app intended for Chinese smartphones instead of the local version. Even with all the above data, the company said its users can’t be identified personally. The company already fixed the issue with the security patch update released last month. However, HMD Global hasn’t revealed how many users are affected by this glitch.

It also officially confirmed that no other Nokia smartphones were affected. While the Nokia Phones in China come with a custom UI, the company offers stock Android UI for its smartphones in other markets. The company also said it stores all the user’s data except for Chinese in its servers in Singapore. After the US blocked Huawei from participating in building its 5G infrastructure, the governments all over the world are taking steps more cautiously in allowing Chinese telecom equipment manufacturers.

Talking about smartphone brands, a few Chinese brands were earlier found to be illegally sending the data to China. HMD Global is rumored to launch a new Nokia 8.1 Plus smartphone next month. It will be the same Nokia X71 which is currently available in China and Taiwan. Stay tuned on Phone Radar for more details!