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Are Xiaomi browsers spyware? Yes, they are (2020)

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Re: Are Xiaomi browsers spyware? Yes, they are (2020)

#191

Post by taotau »

cle wrote: post #160
f6v wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> why would anyone outside of China would voluntarily choose to run closed-source software from a company that's subject to domestic laws and regulations in China Because outside US it doesn't really matter whether it's Chinese or American company that has your data.

It is critically important depending on your country's relationship with either country.

This question is particularly pertinent in a country like Australia. Both the US and China have strong interest in controlling our loyalty and GDP, and I for one dont want to be a subject of either regime.

Re: Are Xiaomi browsers spyware? Yes, they are (2020)

#192

Post by africanboy »

rglullis wrote: post #140
HNfriend234 wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use a xiaomi phone and the reason I use it is because it is significantly cheaper compared to a samsung or apple phone. Example: A $200 xiaomi phone is equivalent in specs to a $600 Samsung. Also it is likely the Chinese are spying on me indirectly (data collection where the chinses military can access the data if they want to) but I really have nothing significant on me that the Chinese would want to be concerned…

> significantly cheaper compared to a samsung or apple phone. Shouldn't that be a huge red flag? Any time someone offers something too good to be true, it never is. > Also it is likely the Chinese are spying on me indirectly Why? > I really have nothing significant on me that the Chinese would want to be concerned with me. It's not just about you, dammit. [0] By accepting their offer, you validate their actions. You…

> Shouldn't that be a huge red flag? Any time someone offers something too good to be true, it never is

does that include the free tiers that many US companies are offering?

For example: Google, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube

Re: Are Xiaomi browsers spyware? Yes, they are (2020)

#193

Post by esclerofilo »

walrus01 wrote: post #49
lucideer wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not 100% sure from your comment whether you're making out that: (a). China is bad (yes, known) (b). The US is not quite as bad (debatable but for the sake of argument lets agree that this is true) (c). The US is benign My comment was only refuting the 3rd supposition. I'm not sure if you actually believe this is true. Though terms such as "country with a functioning democracy" make me think you might...

My point was absolutely not (c). The US has a vast and complex array of sociopolitical, economic disparity, racism, police brutality issues, some of which have been highlighted throughout 2020. But I definitely consider it to be the lesser of two evils.

Someone from outside the US will probably worry more about its history of backing coups than the domestic problems you mentioned. If the US puts a Pinochet in my country and their algorithms say I'm likely to be a communist sympathizer, am I at risk?

Re: Are Xiaomi browsers spyware? Yes, they are (2020)

#194

Post by Keyframe »

serial_dev wrote: post #34
MisterTea wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same could be said for countries outside of the USA buying US tech equipment.

I agree, people give US companies way to much slack... But then what am I supposed to do if I'm European? The US and China pretty much covers the mobile market (and what's not covered is still not European).

The US and China pretty much covers the mobile market (and what's not covered is still not European).

Remember when this was the other way around? How did we come to this in ~two decades?

Re: Are Xiaomi browsers spyware? Yes, they are (2020)

#195

Post by grishka »

judge2020 wrote: post #179
grishka wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uh. An API that provides currency exchange rates is a textbook case of a read-only API. Unless that privacy policy is the nonsensical "we receive and process your IP address" (or course you do, that's how the internet works, duh), it has no reason to have one because no data flows in that direction.

Trying to get legal to sign-off on allowing no-privacy-policy access to anything is going to be hard every time, especially if you do keep personal information like IP addresses for any amount of time (hello gdpr).

But how can one prove whether a third party stores something? Especially if it's the IP address that it must receive anyway.

Re: Are Xiaomi browsers spyware? Yes, they are (2020)

#197

Post by Daho0n »

onethought wrote: post #146
michaelcampbell wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, I meant is it allowed by Chinese law to NOT spy for the government. As I understand it, to be allowed to operate in China as a Chinese company, you are under the obligation to provide any information you collect to the gov't upon request. Is that not the case?

Australia has similar laws also.

So does the US. The only real difference between countries is not if it is different but how each has implemented it in law. The result is the same.

Re: Are Xiaomi browsers spyware? Yes, they are (2020)

#198

Post by [deleted] »

aboringusername wrote: post #105

Are [computers] spyware? Yes, they are (2000) should be the title. If you use a computer, smartphone or IoT device then yes, it collects data, just as Facebook runs ads. What's collected these days: Your social circle, every time you connect to the mobile network, when, which tower you connected to, tx/rx bytes, who you phoned, where the callee is located Whether you're in a car, walking (sensors) Whether your sleepi…

[deleted]

Re: Are Xiaomi browsers spyware? Yes, they are (2020)

#199

Post by Daho0n »

africanboy wrote: post #172
danpalmer wrote: post #16

This paragraph stood out to me: > The intention here seems to be that aigt is the timestamp when the ID was generated. So if that timestamp deviates from current time by more than 7776000000 milliseconds (90 days) a new ID is going to be generated. However, this implementation is buggy, it will update aigt on every call rather than only when a new ID is generated. So the only scenario where a new ID will be generated…

I'm writing this from a Xiaomi smartphone. I know Xiaomi is not the best brand to buy for privacy, but I consider their products one of the best in terms of value for money I own a few Xiaomi devices, I simply install Blokada on each one of them and I think you would be surprised by how many non Chinese domains it blocks, Google being one of the worst offenders. EDIT: see this screenshot https://imgur.com/a/UO0BGCy E…

About your second edit: If you live anywhere on earth that isn't in the geographical area of China it would likely be better to have data going to China than the big US corps. For most it is unlikely the data could be used against you in anything from ads to a police raid, unlike with something like Google collecting it where it will almost for sure be used and useful.

Re: Are Xiaomi browsers spyware? Yes, they are (2020)

#200

Post by t0astbread »

aboringusername wrote: post #105

Are [computers] spyware? Yes, they are (2000) should be the title. If you use a computer, smartphone or IoT device then yes, it collects data, just as Facebook runs ads. What's collected these days: Your social circle, every time you connect to the mobile network, when, which tower you connected to, tx/rx bytes, who you phoned, where the callee is located Whether you're in a car, walking (sensors) Whether your sleepi…

Do you mind providing citations?
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