China’s Android phone makers promote new privacy permission platform to protect user data
As Chinese smartphone makers rush to equip AI features, the issue of user data collection has become the focus of debate
China’s five leading Android-system smartphone brands – Honor, Lenovo, Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi – have formed a platform to promote a new privacy permission system, marking a key step towards standardising privacy protection among Android users in the artificial intelligence era.
As Chinese smartphone makers rush to equip AI features, the issue of user data collection has become the focus of debate. The initiative by the five brands aims to strike a balance between privacy protection and user data access.
The brands will jointly explore new mechanisms in data access to ensure “transparent and controllable” data authorisation, according to a statement from the Intelligent Terminal Alliance (ITGSA), a non-profit organisation formed by the companies.
The initiative is based on the principle of what is “minimum and necessary”, and will handle data access through native API-based system controls and a platform review and control mechanism.