In an article published on March 21, the NRK argued that the data sent by some Nokia 7 Plus to China included location information, the SIM card number of users and the serial number of their device. Information can track real-time movements, the survey points.
Some Nokia 7 Plus data stored on a server linked to the China Telecom operator
More worrying, the survey of the Norwegian media reports that these personal data were stored on a server with the domain name vnet.cn . After verification, it has been established that this domain name is held by the operator China Telecom, whose
majority shareholder is none other than the Chinese State.
Asked by the NRK, HMD Global did not want to specify who owned this server. The parent company of Nokia has also declined any request for comment on how to market the Nokia 7 Plus in China. Is the sending of some personal data of Chinese users a pre-requisite for the on-site marketing of the Nokia 7 Plus? On this issue, HMD prefers to remain silent.
As it stands, the tracking tracked by the NRK seems to have been aimed at the Nokia 7 Plus sold in China. By accident, it would have ended up extending to some users outside the country. An assumption that Nokia and HMD tend to confirm in their recent statements.
An " error identified and corrected in February 2019 ", advance HMD
In its statement, HMD Global ensures that the sending of data from Norwegian users to China is the result of an error. The latter would have been found only " on a single batch " of Nokia 7 Plus sold in the country. The parent company of Nokia also insisted that the data sent to China did not allow identification of users concerned. A point on which the NRK is visibly at odds.
" This mistake has already been identified and corrected in February 2019 by choosing the right country for the customer, " says HMD. " All affected mobiles have received the patch and most of these devices have already installed "Is it also specified. The Finnish group, however, assures that collecting " device activation data once " is an industry standard for activating the phone warranty.