Already mentioned in September 2021 by the Lithuanian authorities, the integrated censor of Xiaomi was spotted by Taiwanese experts on Mi 10T 5G.
In September 2021, an unexpected scandal scratched Xiaomi’s image. Indeed, the Lithuanian defense ministry calls on its fellow citizens to stop buying Chinese smartphones, and more specifically Xiaomi devices, after a disturbing discovery.
According to the country’s National Cyber Security Center, some Xiaomi smartphones like the Mi 10T are equipped with a censorship feature. This is a hidden feature that censor hundreds of keywords in native apps. These terms are related to sensitive subjects in the eyes of the Chinese government, such as the independence of Taiwan, free Tibet or the events of Tiananmen Square.
After the publication of this report, Xiaomi had released an official statement in which the manufacturer assured that he did not have “never restrict or block the personal behaviors of users of its smartphones, such as searching, calling, browsing the Internet or using third-party communication software, and never will ”.
Xiaomi’s censorship system returns to center stage
This case did not come back to the fore for several months. Until now. Indeed, Taiwanese experts have discovered that the MiAdBlacklistConfigur program is available in globalapi.ad.xiaomi.com servers for Xiaomi smartphones that use seven native apps from the manufacturer.
“Our test showed that a MiAdBlacklistConfigur program can be downloaded from the servers of globalapi.ad.xiaomi.com through seven built-in applications on the Mi 10T 5G smartphone, which targets a long list of politically sensitive terms and can block smartphones to provide links to websites associated with those terms. These applications can also transmit users’ web history to servers located in Beijing ”, Taiwan’s National Communications Commission said.
She continues: “Judging by the test results; We will continue our investigations to determine whether Xiaomi Taiwan has compromised the interests of Taiwanese users by invading their privacy. We will inform the organizations concerned if the company violates the regulations applied by other administrative authorities ”.
Without surprise, Xiaomi maintained its previous position in a new press release, claiming again that the company “Never and never goes never ”restrict, block or collect data when users search, place calls, browse the Internet, or use communications apps and third-party software.
Source: Gizchina
