Xiaomi (China) is Stealing User Data Without Consent

Xiaomi (China) is Stealing User Data Without Consent?

A Cyber-security Researcher Claims That He Found That His Xiaomi Phone Was Tracking His Behavior And Usage Patterns While Also Harvesting Various Kinds Of Device Data.

The Researcher Was Reportedly Using Xiaomi's Redmi Note 8 And He Claims That The Device Was Recording His Web Browsing History (Even In Incognito Mode), Tracking What He Was Viewing On The Device's News Feed Feature, And Even Recording The Folders He Opened On The Device, Including Every Time He Opened The Status Bar And The Settings Page. This Was First Reported By Forbes.

The Researcher Further Claims That The Recorded Data Is Then Sent To "Remote Servers In Singapore And Russia, Though The Web Domains They Hosted Were Registered In Beijing."

A Report by Forbes Claims that Xiaomi is Stealing User Data Without Consent.

The Researcher Also Says That He Tested Few Other Xiaomi Devices – Xiaomi Mi 10, Xiaomi Redmi K20 And Xiaomi Mi MIX 3 – And Found That They Are Also Similarly Recording User Data.

Xiaomi Has Roundly Refuted All Claims Stating That The Only Data That Is Collected:

1. Is Collected With User Consent.
2. Is Completely Anonymized And Only Used For Analytical Purposes.
3. Passes Through Servers Compliant With Local Law.
4. Secured By Third-Party Certified, Industry Standard Security Practices.

Xiaomi, In Its Statement, Also Notes That Other Internet Companies Also Collect Data And That Xiaomi's Data Collection Is No Different From That Collected By Other Companies. Xiaomi Also Claims To Have Reached Out Directly To The Researcher And That The Reports Are A Misrepresentation Of Xiaomi's Data Collection And Privacy Practices.

Do Xiaomi Phones Really Spying On Our Data?

Technically It's Not Stealing, You Agreed To It, In the Form of Implied Consent. And It's Not Xiaomi At The Roots Who Is Doing It. It Is Google And Its Android Operating System Who Is Doing This Act.

Android Is An Open Source Operating System Owned By Google, Which Means Anyone Can Freely Use It, And Modify It At Their Will If One Adheres To Certain Guidelines Put Forth By Google.

What Do I Think:- Well, As Per The Article, Cybersecurity Researcher Gabi Cirlig, Discovered How His Redmi Note 8 Was Monitoring His Activities And Was Being Sent To Remote Servers? His Claim Is Then Backed Up By Another Cybersecurity Researcher Named Andrew Tierney, After An Investigation Conducted On Forbes' Request. And These Two Men Are Experts of the Field, You Can Google about Them or Check Their LinkedIn. So We Can't Question The Credibility Of Their Claims. Cirlig Points Of That The Default System Browser Has Been Sending Most Of His Browsing Data And Also Recording Most Of His Other Movement On The Phones.

I Feel Xiaomi's Privacy Policy Has Always Been A Sketchy One. In India, They Show Obscene Ads In Proprietary Apps And Even In The System UI Directly To Make Revenue, And Justify It By Saying That It Allows Them To Keep The Prices As Low As Possible. I Also Don't Think EU's Data Protection And Privacy Policies Would Allow Them To Show Ads In A Phone's System UI, Unlike In India, Where Privacy Laws Are Too Weak.

Earlier I Used To Advise Everyone, To Not Use Xiaomi Proprietary Apps, Because I Had My Doubts About Them Regarding Privacy, Now My Doubts Have Been Confirmed. And It Has Become More Worrying, As The Report Claims Of Monitoring The In System Movements Of Users. I've Got All Sorts of Important Data on My Phone, Like My Banking App, My PayPal, Etc. And I Don't Wish To Take A Risk With It.

Currently, I Have Been Using Xiaomi Note 5 Pro, And I Have Disabled All Sorts Of Bull Crap User Experience Program Or Any Other Fancy Sounding Options, Which Are Only Intended To Track User Data, And I Don't Use A Single Xiaomi Supplied App, And Don't Sign Into Mi Account In The First Place, And I Would Advise The Same To Other Xiaomi Users.

TAGS:-

Redmi Note 8

Xiaomi

Xiaomi Data

Xiaomi Data Access

Xiaomi Data Migration

Xiaomi Data Tracking

Xiaomi User Data