The Taiwanese government has initiated a probe to determine whether Xiaomi, China's no.1 smartphone in terms of domestic market performance, is involved in a cyber security threat.
Initial tests showed that some models are sending users' data to servers located in mainland China.
Gin-Shian Lou, a director at Taiwan's National Communications Commission, said on Wednesday that the results of the probe will be released in three months. The Taiwanese government conducted some tests on some Xiaomi models and found that user's phone and personal data are not secured, Reuters reported.
"We wanted to ensure the situation was as they said, so we decided to perform our own tests," Lou told reporters in Taipei.
The New York Times reported it is likely that the Taiwanese government will implement a sales ban of Xiaomi in the country if evidence confirms that the Chinese smartphone maker was indeed involved in the cyber security breach. Over the years, there have been many other governments that were suspicious of potential cyber security threats brought on by Chinese gadgets. The Chinese government itself and the companies operating within the countries are often suspected of espionage.
Xiaomi refused to comment about the allegation.
Meanwhile, Xiaomi was recently flagged for unauthorized access to its users' data. To address the issue, the company upgraded its mobile operating system to enable users to prevent the system from accessing data from the phone's address books.
Most of Xiaomi's sales are from China, but, they are also present in other Asian countries including Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, India and the Philippines.
Aside from Xiaomi, the Taiwanese government is also looking at the instant messaging service Line, owned by Naver Corp. of South Korea. The service will be banned from all computers in government facilities due to security concerns. A spokeswoman for Line said the company will also conduct an internal probe and would not give further information on the matter.
