Xiaomiis having a phenomenal year with its growing smartphone shipments all over the world. In fact, they were able to pass Samsung to get the global number one spot back in June.
But based on a new government report, it looks like the Chinese company is about to face serious issues.
The Lithuanian cybersecurity agency haspublished a reportalleging that some Xiaomi phones can be used to remotely detect and censor certain words/terms without the owner’s consent. Phones investigated by the agency were the Mi 10T, OnePlus 8T, and Huawei P40.
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Pre-installed apps reportedly get a list of blocked keywords from Xiaomi. Some of the keywords tagged as offensive are related to freeing Tibet, Taiwanese independence, and many more. Based on these keywords, the device will block any content related to them automatically.
The report notes that the content filter is disabled by default on Xiaomi devices sold in the EU and Lithuania, but the manufacturer can remotely turn on the functionality at will. The feature is presumably meant to be used in China only, but it’s still worrying seeing it on international releases.