Last Updated on 03/12/2021 by TheDigitalHacker
Xiaomi is alleged to have a system in place that sends user data to external servers housed by Beijing-based Web domains.
Xiaomi has been accused of sharing customers’ personal information with faraway servers in China once again. According to security researchers, the leading Chinese mobile phone company, which also leads the smartphone market in India and is among the top-five smartphone manufacturers worldwide, has a significant aperture on its phones that allows private information to be transmitted to remote servers hosted by Alibaba in China.
The default Web browser on Xiaomi’s Redmi series and MI series phones were plunk recording Web search history of the users even when the users of these phones switched to “incognito” mode. Xiaomi has denied all of these claims, however, they went on to add that while it tracks some anonymous browsing information of the users, it does not share the acquired information with third parties.
Gabi Cirlig and Andrew Tierney, are the two security researchers, who pointed out that there are various vents present in Xiaomi phones that help the company obtain its user’s data, without getting any consent from its users. According to the researcher, Xiaomi appears to have purposefully included flaws in the software available on the Redmi phone, exposing the users’ private life.
Xiaomi did not face such allegations for the first time. In fact, the company has faced many allegations of sending users’ personal information back to its servers. Authorities, such as the Indian Air Force, highlighted certain security concerns in 2014. It did deliver certain software upgrades to address some of the concerns and resolve some major issues.
However, the security issues that were once reported in the past did not project any impact on Xiaomi’s presence in the market, especially in India. According to a recent report by Counterpoint Research, the business is currently India’s number one smartphone manufacturer, with a robust 30 percent market share. It is also one of the top five smartphone manufacturers in the world.
Resource: https://securityboulevard.com/2020/05/xiaomi-u-turn-admits-sending-private-data-it-said-it-didnt/
