Xiaomi phones under scrutiny in Taiwan

Taiwan’s government is inspecting phones made by the Chinese smartphone company Xiaomi to determine whether they pose a cyber security threat, Reuters reported, citing a statement from a communications official. Gin-Shian Lou, a National Communications Commission director, said the government began performing independent tests on the phones after reports in recent months that some models automatically send user data back to the firm’s servers in mainland China. In August, the company publicly apologized and said it would change a default cloud feature after a Finnish security company discovered Xiaomi was collecting address book data without permission.