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There are reports going around in the media that Chinese phones may have privacy issues. According to media reports, smartphones sold by the Chinaese smartphone company Xiaomi have an in-built ability to detect and censor terms such as "Free Tibet", "Long live Taiwan independence" or "democracy movement."
"Our recommendation is to not buy new Chinese phones, and to get rid of those already purchased as fast as reasonably possible," Defence Deputy Minister Margiris Abukevicius told reporters in introducing the report, as reported.
Xiaomi is said to not have responded to media queries. However, there is some indication that a Xiaomi official might have denied the reports.
It appears that there are geopolitical reasons at play behind these reports. Lithuania agreed to rename the Taiwanese representative in Lithuania as "Taiwanese Representative Office" instead of the usual "Chinese Taipei" in order to keep Beijing placated.
It is reported that the Xiaomi phone was sending encrypted phone usage data to a server in Singapore. A security flaw was also found in the P40 5G phone by Huawei, but none was found in the phone of another Chinese maker, OnePlus.
According to the reports, there were 449 terms on the censored list of Xiaomi phone apps and the list was continuously updated.
What Should the IT MSMEs Do?
In India, many IT MSMEs are reselling Chinese phones and some of them may be buying them for personal use as well.
At this stage, it is not clear whether these reports are politically motivated because of the tension between Lithuania and China over Taiwan, or whether they have a genuine data protection issue. Hence, it's best for the IT MSMEs to wait and watch how this news develops further.
To be on the safer side, it's best not to use Chinese phones for some time and not to resell them. If this report is found to be false a alarm, then they can resume reselling and using Chinese phones. Otherwise, they'll be safe from the data protection violation by the censorship mechanism of Chinese phones.