Nearly a week ago, a user from Hong kong reported that Xiaomi RedMi Note sends data to a server based in China. The user confirmed that he found his device sending photos and personal text messages to an unknown IP address located in China. He also posted some screenshots to confirm his allegation. When the IP was tracked, it was found that IP belongs to Chines government. IP belongs to CNNIS, administrative agency that is responsible for Internet affairs in China.
To avoid this, the owner of the phone tried rooting the phone to use different firmware. But nothing could stop smartphone leaking personal data to Chinese servers. Owner of that RedMi Note also confirmed that he had not signed up for Xiaomi’s Mi cloud server. So, there is nothing which allow smartphone to send data to Chinese servers. So, it made people believe that Xiaomi is spying for Chinese government.
Yesterday, this news was covered by most of the news sources online which created trouble for Xiaomi’s reputation. So, today we have an official statement from Xiaomi about this issue.
Xiaomi Global VP Hugo Barra confirmed that all allegations are wrong. He just wrote on Google+ that MIUI does not secretly upload photos and text messages. He confirmed that MIUI requests public data from Xiaomi servers time to time for various things like preset greeting messages (holiday greetings, jokes and poems), and OTA update notifications. These things are non-personal and do not infringe on user privacy.
Hugo Barra confirmed that Xiaomi does not upload your personal data without users’ knowledge. It offers a cloud service which enable users to back up and manage personal information in cloud. It also lets users sync to other devices. By default the service is turned off and you need to enable it. If you are already using the service, you can turn off it any time by going to Settings > Mi Cloud.
For all those people who are in doubt, company answered “Why should you believe on Xiaomi?”
This is the answer
“Xiaomi is serious about user privacy and takes all possible steps to ensure our Internet services adhere to our privacy policy. We do not upload any personal information and data without the permission of users. In a globalized economy, Chinese manufacturers’ handsets are selling well internationally, and many international brands are similarly successful in China – any unlawful activity would be greatly detrimental to a company’s global expansion efforts.”
Xiaomi entered in Indian market this month by launching its Xiaomi Mi 3. This smartphone is exclusively available via Flipkart and has seen good response. Flipkart is also facing server crash issues when it made the smartphone available. At this time it is out of stock and next scheduled sale will happened on August 5. Let’s see the impact of this issue in the next sale.
