The Taiwan government is investigating Xiaomi over cyber security issues. Xiaomi is the leading Chinese smartphone maker in terms of domestic shipments. The government is looking into whether the company is a cyber threat or not. A decision will be made in three months.
Xiaomi under probe
Government agencies started performing individual tests on the phones after recent reports that the phones sent user information back to the firm’s servers. This latest probe serves as a reminder of all the scrutiny affecting Chinese tech firms thanks to the awareness of security issues around the globe.
China and Taiwan have been foes for quite some time now. This goes down in historically when defeated Nationalists left for the island upon losing to Chinese communists in 1949. The privately-owned phone maker has been subject to allegations in the past few months. Just last month, the company offered an apology after learning a Finnish-based company uncovered proof Xiaomi secured address book information without customer consent.
Previous concerns regarding Xiaomi
Taiwan National Communications Commission Director Gin-Shian Lou added, “We wanted to ensure the situation was as they said, so we decided to perform our own tests.”
Lou added the test results should be made public soon, although it was not clear whether it would lead to a ban on Xiaomi products in Taiwan. A representative for the tech maker declined to comment on the matter. Hong Kong media source also accused the company of sending user’s text messages back the servers on the mainland. Xiaomi responded by calling this claim false. Within the laws of mainland China, firms that store data on Chinese soil are required to follow rules in accordance with the government. Data from Taiwanese users stored on the mainland could be vulnerable to the requests. Other companies like Google opted out of storing servers in China.
Source: Reuters
