UPDATE:
A Xiaomi spokesperson has now dismissed the report by Lithuania’s Defense Ministry saying that they do not restrict or intercept any user behavior:
“Xiaomi has never and will never restrict or block any personal behaviors of our smartphone users, such as searching, calling, web browsing, or the use of third-party communication software,” the statement said. “Xiaomi fully respects and protects the legal rights of all users,” it added.
The spokesperson also emphasized that Xiaomi complies with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Original story follows…
The Defense Ministry of Lithuania recommended that consumers should avoid buying Chinese phones and throw away the ones they already have in the light of a new report that found built-in censorship capabilities on some devices.
The country’s state-run cybersecurity body said on Tuesday that flagship Xiaomi phones have a built-in ability to detect and censor terms like “Free Tibet,” “Long live Taiwan independence”, or “democracy movement.”
This ability has been turned off for the European Union region on the Xiaomi Mi 10T 5G but still exists nonetheless. However, it can easily be turned on remotely at any time, the Defense Ministry’s National Cyber Security Center said in the report.
A total of 449 terms are possibly being censored by the system apps on Xiaomi devices including the default Internet browser. This list is constantly being updated.
Further, the Xiaomi phone was found to be sending encrypted phone usage data to a server in Singapore.
Xiaomi did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
“This is important not only to Lithuania but to all countries which use Xiaomi equipment,” the Centre said in the report.
Huawei isn’t free from such flaws either as a security hole was found in the Huawei P40 5G as well. However, Huawei’s representative in the Baltics told the BNS news wire that its phones do not send users’ data to external sources.
No such issues were found on OnePlus though.
Due to all this, Deputy Defense Minister Margiris Abukevicius told reporters that their “recommendation is to not buy new Chinese phones, and to get rid of those already purchased as fast as reasonably possible.”
Relations between Lithuania and China have soured lately, especially after China’s demands last month to withdraw Lithuania’s ambassador in Beijing. The country also said that it would recall its envoy to Vilnius after Taiwan announced that its mission in Lithuania would be called the Taiwanese Representative Office.
Taiwanese diplomatic missions in Europe and the United States refer to the city of Taipei in order to avoid referencing the island itself, which China claims as its own.
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