Xiaomi, the Chinese mobile manufacture is now caught in a new data privacy scandal as reports are in that the web browser data of Xiaomi smartphone users are being sent to remote servers located in Singapore and Russia.
Surprised a bit on why are the phones sending data to servers located in Singapore and Russia instead of Beijing, China….isn’t it?
Well, last week, an investigative cybersecurity researcher Gabi Cirlig disclosed through Forbes that Xiaomi smartphones are spying on the web browser activity of its users. And another researcher Andrew Tierney confirmed it.
On Saturday last week, Xiaomi issued a brief statement on this note saying it’s Mi Browser Pro and the Mint Browser indulge in the web browser analytics to serve its users with content at a fast rate.
Now comes the question of why the phone users’ data is being sent to data centers operated on foreign soil..?
For this question, Xiaomi says that the servers in question are owned by the Chinese Internet Giant Alibaba and are available on lease for Xiaomi.
Then what about the data regulation prevailing in China where it mandates all companies operating in its region to keep their user data within the data centers functioning in the country….perhaps thrown to air!
Note- The British Standard Institution (BSI) and TrustArc have given a ‘Trusted’ certificate to the security and privacy features of Xiaomi smartphones which includes the default Mi Browser.
