On August 10, Xiaomi apologized to its phone users after independent researchers found that these devices collect personal information entered by the user and send it to a remote server.
Hugo Barra, vice president of Xiaomi, used Google+ to apologize to users, informing them that the data leak was due to the Cloud Messaging service, which is automatically activated when the device is turned on.
“The MIUI Cloud Messaging service uses the SIM card and device identifiers (phone number, IMSI, and IMEI) to route messages between two users, in the same way as some of the most popular messaging services,” Barra said in the message.
All similar services send this data, but users are generally aware of it after the fact. This information is really necessary for setting up communication with other interlocutors.
