RedNote is suspected of secretly compromising user data.

RedNote nghi âm thầm xâm phạm dữ liệu của người dùng - Ảnh 1. — Many users have discovered that RedNote accesses location and personal data with unusual frequency, even when not using the app - Photo: REUTERS

The People's Daily, on March 27, citing a report from Jiupai News , stated that the social media platform (app) RedNote is currently facing numerous allegations related to collecting user data beyond what is necessary for normal operation.

These practices are believed to occur frequently and without transparency, raising deep concerns about users' privacy and the protection of their personal data.

Users are constantly under scrutiny.

A report by Jiupai on March 27 stated that many users discovered RedNote had accessed their personal data tens of thousands of times within a 30-day period, even during times when users were not actively using the app.

Specifically, one user of an Android device reported that within a month, RedNote accessed device data a total of over 92,000 times, with location data alone being accessed 71,000 times. Meanwhile, WeChat – a leading platform in China – was only recorded as accessing data 911 times during the same period.

At one point, the app was recorded accessing location data 2,148 times in a single day. The user then disabled location access and switched to a mode requiring manual permission for each access. As a result, RedNote's data access activity decreased significantly and returned to normal levels the following day.

According to Jiupai , another user also reported that RedNote had made approximately 50,000 accesses to their personal data in 30 days, with location data access accounting for 46,000 of those.

Notably, at one point, the app made multiple accesses to sensitive data such as device status, audio files, videos , images, and the clipboard (temporary memory) within a short period of time.

RedNote frequently requests users to include location information when posting articles on its platform. Even though users can refuse, the app continues to access location data regularly, raising questions about its operational transparency and user data control.

In fact, complaints about RedNote's excessive data collection have been recorded since July 2024, with over 70,000 discussion posts published on the app itself. Many users of iOS devices also reported that the location icon remained constantly displayed on their screens even when the app was not open, indicating that covert data collection was still taking place.

Response from RedNote

On March 26th, in response to Jiupai's inquiries, a RedNote customer service representative confirmed that location data collection is for the "nearby" feature (which locates users in nearby areas) and only occurs when users enable location access permissions.

A platform representative stated that this is normal and emphasized that RedNote will not disclose users' personal information.

However, these statements have yet to allay concerns among the Chinese public, especially given that privacy and personal data protection are becoming increasingly important concerns for internet users in China and globally.

Users are constantly under scrutiny.

Response from RedNote

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