Report Claims Xiaomi’s Devices Are Collecting Data On Its Users

We do a lot on our phones these days, such as texting, calling, and surfing the web. Some of us even use it for work where we might access sensitive information that we don’t want others to see. Unfortunately for Xiaomi users, it seems that a report from Forbes has revealed that the company’s devices are apparently collecting browsing data on its users.

This is according to security researcher Gabi Cirlig who discovered that on his Redmi Note 8 handset, what he was doing on his phone was being sent to remote servers hosted by Alibaba that were rented by Xiaomi. This data included things like the websites he visited, what he searched for, and what kind of articles he was browsing while using Xiaomi’s news feed software.

It also seems that it did not matter if the user was using incognito mode as it appeared that data was still being collected anyway. More worrying, the data also included non-web related activities, such as the screens he swiped, like the status bar and settings page.

Xiaomi has since denied these findings, despite the fact that Forbes sent the company evidence like videos that showed data being collected even while in incognito mode. A company spokesperson was quoted as saying, “This video shows the collection of anonymous browsing data, which is one of the most common solutions adopted by internet companies to improve the overall browser product experience through analyzing non-personally identifiable information.”

Tyler Lee
Categories: Cellphones
Tags: China, Privacy, Xiaomi