Xiaomi phones ‘found’ sending user data to remote servers? Here’s what the Chinese co has to say

In a recently published Forbes article, Xiaomi, one of the world's top four smartphone-maker was reported to be illegally collecting user-data on its Redmi series phones.

Citing security expert Gabriel Cirlig in an exclusive story with the publication said, his recently bought phone Redmi Note 8 recorded every website he visited, be it on Google or the privacy-centric DuckDuckGo.

Furthermore, he noted that his Xiaomi phone tracked every item viewed on a news feed feature of the Xiaomi software and even on 'incognito' mode, which is a private internet surfing session, which Google swears not to store any cookies or browsing history.

Apparently, the user data is packed and sent to remote servers owned by Alibaba in Singapore and Russia, which by the way the domain names are hosted in Beijing.

Further investigations revealed that Xiaomi's standalone browsing apps-- Mi Browser Pro and the Mint Browser--, which are available on Google Play store too exhibited the same shady behaviour. Not just Redmi Note 8, Xiaomi's other phones MI 10, Redmi K20, and Mi MIX 3 too, have similar security issues, Cirlig noted.

Now, Xiaomi has come up with the official statement declining any wrongdoing and said it abides every law of the local regions and the user data is safe. The company shared information on what data it collects on the phones on the official website (here).

“Xiaomi was disappointed to read the recent article from Forbes. We feel they have misunderstood what we communicated regarding our data privacy principles and policy. Our user’s privacy and internet security is of top priority at Xiaomi; we are confident that we strictly follow and are fully compliant with local laws and regulations. We have reached out to Forbes to offer clarity on this unfortunate misinterpretation.”

New Update: Manu Kumar Jain, Xiaomi vice president (global) and general manager (India) has released a video on YouTube detailing the company's privacy policy.

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