Disable this option to stop Xiaomi from Traking your Activities
If you own a Xiaomi
smartphone Or have installed the Mi browser app on some of your other Android
devices, you should enable a newly introduced privacy setting immediately to
prevent Xiaomi from spying on your internet activities. The privacy setting now
enables Mi Browser users to disable aggregated data collection feature while at
Incognito Mode, but it bears noting that it is not enabled by default.
[Image Source : 91mobiles]
The option can be accessed
by tapping the settings icon in the browser > Incognito mode settings >
and then disable 'Enhanced incognito mode,' as shown in an attached screenshot
below.
The development is based
on The insides of a Forbes report last week that detailed how the company's
browsers listing users' website visits -- even in incognito mode. The browsers,
that come pre-installed on countless Xiaomi devices, capture search engine
queries on Google and DuckDuckGo, and also information about what folders
consumers open and to which displays they swipe, including the status bar along
with the settings menu.
The aggregated information
is then moved to the servers located in China and Russia, highlighting servers
that the firm rented from a different Chinese tech giant Alibaba, apparently to
better understand its users' behavior.
"My principal concern for privacy
is that the data delivered to their servers can be quite easily correlated with
a specific consumer," Gabi Cirlig told Forbes.
In response to this
report, Xiaomi claimed there were does not collect any information without
permission from the user. It added all data is "aggregated and cannot alone
be used to recognize any individual."
Cybersecurity researcher Andrew Tierney, who investigated the information sniffing alongside Cirlig, refuted Xiaomi's reply over the weekend, stating "they connect UUID to my orders which continues over at least 24 hours," and that "this is close enough fora person ."
Cybersecurity researcher Andrew Tierney, who investigated the information sniffing alongside Cirlig, refuted Xiaomi's reply over the weekend, stating "they connect UUID to my orders which continues over at least 24 hours," and that "this is close enough fora person ."
The company does not
appear to be stopping the practice entirely. To put it differently, unless
users explicitly opt-out, Xiaomi will nevertheless continue to collect
aggregate statistics while at incognito mode.
The fact that this
information collection will remain enabled from the incognito mode is Yet
another example of a dark pattern that pushes for a privacy-intrusive Default
setting.
What's more, selecting the privacy-friendly option requires at least three steps, Proving once more that solitude comes at a cost, and In its present state, it's Just an illusion of control.
What's more, selecting the privacy-friendly option requires at least three steps, Proving once more that solitude comes at a cost, and In its present state, it's Just an illusion of control.
