Xiaomi smartphones have built-in censorship and espionage mechanisms

The Taiwan National Communications Commission has discovered integrated censorship tools in the Xiaomi Mi 10T smartphone.

What we know

At the end of the third quarter of 2021, the Lithuanian Ministry of Defense advised users to stop using Chinese smartphones, and they cited Xiaomi models as an example. There were several reasons: censorship, surveillance and collection of confidential data.

Then Xiaomi said that the built-in censor that blocks some of the search queries is missing from smartphones in the global market. Specialists from Taiwan's National Communications Commission do not agree with this statement.

According to them, the MiAdBlacklisConfigur software can be installed on the Xiaomi model from globalapi.ad.xiaomi.com. The application censors search queries and does not provide links to sites that China does not like. In particular, requests with the words "free Tibet" and "Taiwan independence" are blocked.

Xiaomi has already reacted to the Taiwanese regulator's statement. The manufacturer said that it has never restricted and has no plans to restrict, block and collect data when users perform searches, browse the web or make calls. However, the company emphasized that MiAdBlacklistConfig is responsible for managing paid advertising for applications, and also protects users from inappropriate content, including images of violence and pornography.

Source: Taipei times