“Don’t buy Chinese phones and get rid of those you’ve already bought”

A recent investigation by the Lithuanian National Cyber ​​Security Center revealed four significant cybersecurity risks for devices manufactured by Huawei and Xiaomi for which the authorities would warn against the use of these two brands of mobile phones.

The risks found in the study would be linked to applications preinstalled on devices and the possible personal data leak when using cell phones of the mentioned brands. A specific detail mentioned by the Lithuanian report would be the risk of possible restrictions on free speech on Xiaomi phones, as they contain a content filtering function for 449 keywords or groups of keywords in Chinese characters.

Terms recorded in the keyword list include the phrases “Free Tibet”, “Voice of America”, “Democratic Movement” and “Long Live Taiwan Independence”. Additionally, the research cautions against the possibility of including Latin characters for which they would also have the possibility of blocking the terms if they need it.

While the content filtering feature for keyword blocking not found active and no trace of censorship was found in the cell phones studied, the institution warned against the possible opportunity for such a tool to become effective.

In this regard, a spokesperson for Xioami said in interviews with CBS News that the company has not censored any of its users’ communications and that their devices comply with the General Data Protection Regulation of the European Union (GDPR). “Xiaomi has never restricted or blocked any personal behavior of users of our smartphones, such as searches, calls, web browsing or the use of third-party communication software,” said the representative.

Faced with the risk of a possible data breach and a breach of privacy, Lithuanian Deputy Defense Minister Margiris Abukevicius made a invitation to give up cellphones brands were immediately investigated. “We strongly recommend state and public institutions not to use these devices and we plan to initiate legislation that regulates the acquisition of certain devices for ministries and various state agencies,” the official said.

The investigation would have started with the idea of ​​reviewing the security standards of new mobile devices with 5G technology. While the indication to stop using cell phones was primarily aimed at officials, the government also warned ordinary users to consider the security of their data before using or obtaining any of the devices investigated.

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