Chinese-made smartphone XiaoMi Redmi Note, is
allegedly secretly sending personal data of users to a server hosted in
Beijing without permission from phone users, a Vietnamese technology
newspaper reported.
According to www.ictnews.vn, an online newspaper
run by the Ministry of Information and Communications of Viet Nam,
CellphoneS, one of the biggest phone retailers in the country, has
observed the alleged data theft.
According to CellphoneS, when the XiaoMi Redmi
Note is in Wi-Fi mode, it connects to a server with an IP address based
in mainland China without notifying its user.
After connecting to the Chinese server, the phone uploads photos, chat messages and information from the user.
On the other hand, even after removing the
default software installed by Xiaomi, the Redmi Note continues the
automatic connection and file upload.
This observation from CellphoneS has raised serious concerns regarding personal information being stolen and misused.
Mobile phone retailers in Ha Noi said XiaoMi
Redmi Note was already out of stock. They expected new shipments in the
next few weeks.
The phone, which is being sold in Viet Nam at a
price of VND4.7 million (US$224), is part of a line of smartphones
launched by Xiaomi Inc, the largest privately owned mainland Chinese
electronics company.
Meanwhile, according to The China Post, during
the recent public announcement for Xiaomi new smartphone Xiaomi 4, the
company responded to the recent discussions of the Redmi Note’s
automatic upload and connect function to a Chinese server.
The company, however, cited its user agreement
policy, which stated that no invasion of privacy had ever occurred in
their service and the infringement allegation was false and untrue.
Xiaomi did not, however, dismiss the automatic
connection and upload feature and said that Redmi Note does not upload
personal information from its users but only calculates the user’s
personal preferences, so that the company can send appropriate upgrade
and app recommendations to their users for better customer service.
The company also said that all phones come with
automatic back-up and cloud features disabled, and they can only perform
these functions with the user’s consent.
Backed-up information will also not be used by the company or against the user, the company said.
Headquartered in Beijing, Xiaomi itself designs, develops and sells smartphones, mobile apps and consumer electronics.
VNS/VNN