What just happened? The US is going after another Chinese company over claims that it poses a security risk to American citizens. On this occasion, the crosshairs are over phone maker OnePlus. A pair of US lawmakers want the Department of Commerce to investigate the firm over concerns that its devices collect user information and send it back to servers in China without consent.
Rep. John Moolenaar, a Republican who chairs a House of Representatives committee on China, and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, the panel's top Democrat, are leading the calls for an investigation into OnePlus, reports Reuters.
The pair say that analysis provided to the panel by a commercial company suggests OnePlus devices may be collecting and transmitting extensive amounts of user data, including sensitive personal information to Chinese servers without explicit consent from users.
The lawmakers asked the Department of Commerce to direct its Information and Communications Technology and Services program to investigate what types of data are being collected in this way, including "potential" transfers of screenshots.
The committee added that both Best Buy and Amazon sell OnePlus phones in the US, which operate on Verizon and T-Mobile networks.
There are plenty of words like "potentially," "may," and "indicates" in Reuters' report, and no actual data has been provided to back up the lawmakers' claims. It's also been pointed out that the US government tends to be quick to tell people to stop using the devices in cases like these, but perhaps that will come later.
OnePlus makes some excellent handsets, offering viable Android alternatives to Samsung and Google models. We chose the OnePlus 13R (Best Value) and OnePlus 13 (Best for Most) in our Best Phones 2025 feature.
This isn't the first time a Chinese phone maker has been targeted. In 2019, the Commerce department added Huawei to the entity list due to national security risks, essentially pushing their devices out of the US market.
The OnePlus claims mirror those leveled against TikTok and Chinese parent ByteDance. Again, though, the risk seems more theoretical than evidence-based.
Another firm under US investigation over alleged China ties is popular router maker TP-Link. The Commerce, Defense, and Justice Departments are all looking into whether these alleged links pose a security threat and whether the firm engaged in predatory pricing to undercut competitors and dominate the US market. The outcome could see TP-Link products banned in the United States.