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BBC Chinese: Indian Air Force Asked Employees and Their Families to Avoid Chinese Smart Phones

BBC Chinese recently reported that the Indian Air Force officially warned its employees not to use China made smart phones, especially the Xiaomi brand. The family members of the Air Force personnel were also asked not to use those smart phones. According to the Air Force spokesperson, the advice was based on recommendations made by F-Secure, the well-known Finnish security advisory consulting company, which is also the security contractor for the Indian Air Force. Recent F-Secure research showed that multiple models of Xiaomi smart phones automatically sent the phone owner’s name, phone number, phone device identifier, contacts list, and text messages to remote servers located in Beijing without getting the owner’s permission or even notifying the owner. In the meantime, the Xiaomi Vice President of Global Services stated in an email that Xiaomi will be moving its Indian services and communications data to Amazon servers located in Singapore and the United States. The move is expected to be completed by the end of this calendar year. 
Source: BBC Chinese, October 31, 2014
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/world/2014/10/141030_india_china_smartphones