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IT security researchers have made a questionable discovery. Xiaomi smartphones send extensive user data abroad, Forbes reports.
The Xiaomi The standard browser records each website visited and each search query entered, either in Google, DuckDuckGo or another search engine. All messages that were opened in Xiaomi news are also saved. This happens regardless of whether the browser is used normally or in incognito mode, which is actually supposed to prevent data storage.
Security experts also discovered that the Xiaomi smartphone records which folders open and which screen slides, including the use of settings and status bar. The data was sent to Alibaba’s servers, but not in Chinabut in Singapore and Russia.
Data can be assigned to people
According to security researchers, the data is only poorly protected. Base64 encryption could be decrypted in a few seconds. Because the device data is also transmitted with the data, it is very easy to assign it to specific people. Therefore, they are not anonymous data.
That too Xiaomi Xiaomi’s standard browsers and Mint browsers, which can be found on the Play Store, record this data. Together they have been downloaded more than 15 million times. There is also suspicion that Xiaomi the use of the application tracks the user. Because every time an app is opened on the smartphone, the data is transferred to the Alibaba server. Researchers have not yet been able to determine what this data contains.
Xiaomi smartphones affected
Data collection was discovered in one Xiaomi Redmi Note 8. The firmware used there is also used in many other mobile phones, such as the Xiaomi Wed 10, Xiaomi Redmi K20 and Xiaomi My MIX 3. IT experts assume that these devices collect the same data and transmit it abroad.
Xiaomi reject the accusations. In a first statement to Forbes, the researchers’ findings were described as “false.” At the same time, the company said the data is collected anonymously and that users have given their consent. And even though the researchers presented solid evidence, they said Xiaomibrowser data is not saved in incognito mode.
Xiaomi is justified
After the publication of the Forbes article Xiaomi posted a blog post. One feels misunderstood and Forbes misinterpreted the facts. User safety and privacy are a priority.
In a blog post update it appears Xiaomi have calmed down a bit. We are grateful for the work of the security researchers and the constructive discussion. Previously, they had been accused of spreading falsehoods.
In addition, an option will be included in the next versions of the standard browser and the Mint browser to disable data collection in incognito mode. Previously had Xiaomi it still means that data is not collected in incognito mode. Other than that, the idea of incognito mode is that no data is logged: the user shouldn’t have to disable data recording in this mode first.
