Xiaomi Apologizes for Collecting User Information
On August 10, an apology was issued to Xiaomi phone users, as a result of independent researchers finding that the devices collect personal information entered by the user and send it to a remote server.
Hugo Barra, Xiaomi global vice president, took it to Google+ to deliver the apologies to the users, informing them that the data leak was due to the Cloud Messaging service, which is automatically enabled when the device is turned on.
“MIUI Cloud Messaging uses SIM and device identifiers (phone number, IMSI and IMEI) for routing messages between two users, in the same way as some of the most popular messaging services,” said Barra in the post. All similar services send this data, but users are generally made aware of the matter from the get-go; this information is actually necessary for establishing communication with the other peers.
