Xiaomi data leak controversy: Is Xiaomi mobile sending user data to China?

Xiaomi Mobile has fallen into yet another privacy concern where the organisation is reportedly accused of collecting browser data of its users. This is not the first time when the mobile company was blamed to use user data inappropriately. This time two cybersecurity researchers revealed that Xiaomi was watching much of what he was doing on the phone.

Xiaomi records browsing data of its users

Cybersecurity researcher Gabi Cirlig recently told a leading news portal that he was able to find out that the Mi Browser on the Redmi Note 8 was collecting users’ data including visited websites, search queries in Google and other modes. The researchers, Gabi Cirlig and Andrew Tierney were able to detect various backdoors in Xiaomi smartphones that help the company obtain user data without letting the user know. The most interesting thing spotted by Cirlig and Tierney is that the tracking continued even when the phone’s browser was set to Incognito mode. 

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The reports also revealed that even searches on the so-called privacy-centric DuckDuckGo web browser which is trusted by many people were being sent to China. The researchers also revealed that the company was collecting information on unique numbers identifying a device and also the version of Android it’s running on it. The Cybersecurity researcher Andrew Tierney reportedly spotted that the Mi Browser Pro and the Mint Browser collected the same data and sent information to China. These browsers have more than 15 million downloads on Google Play Store.

However, Xiaomi reportedly rejected all the claims saying that they are false allegations. The smartphone seller said that privacy and security are their topmost priority and it completely follows all the local laws and regulations on user data privacy concerns. But, Xiaomi mobile also agreed that the organisation collected browser data though anonymously. 

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In a blog post of Mi, Xiaomi said, "The collection of aggregated usage statistics data is used for internal analysis, and we do not link any personally identifiable information to any of this data." The company also mentioned that the researchers “misunderstood what we communicated regarding our data privacy principles and policy.” It further added, “as an internet company, internet security, safety and user privacy are Xiaomi’s core principles.” 

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Xiaomi is amongst India’s largest smartphone makers, and the company's latest launch is going to be Mi Note 10 Lite which is expected to launch on July 17, 2020. The smartphone is expected to hit the market with the price of ₹28,490. However, such allegations may affect the company’s reputation and product performance in the country.

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