Xiaomi

Xiaomi

Basic information
Founded	2010
Type	Public
Industry	Consumer Electronics Computer Hardware Automotive
Official website	https://www.mi.com/

Xiaomi Corporation is a Chinese multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Beijing, China. It is best known for its consumer electronics, software, and electric vehicles. As of 2021, it is the second largest phone manufacturer in the world.

Controversies

Kernel disclosure issues

Main article: Xiaomi's disclosure of kernel sources

Although Xiaomi's devices run on an operating system based on the Linux kernel, which is licensed under GPLv2, the company does not disclose all of their operating system source code on GitHub, as required by GPL terms.

Unlocking restrictions

Main article: Xiaomi Phone unlock requirements and procedure

Phones manufactured come with an unlockable bootloader, however the unlocking process is heavily restricted.

Certain repairs require an authorized service Mi Account.

For devices with a broken bootloader, recovery typically involves reflashing firmware through Emergency Download (EDL) mode (for Qualcomm-based devices) or Download Mode (for MediaTek-based devices). While Qualcomm and MediaTek provide software for these modes, they are only distributed internally to repair centers. However, open-source alternatives exist that can perform similar functions.

Despite this, Xiaomi has implemented additional restrictions by requiring online authentication, which is exclusively provided to authorized repair centers. This prevents users from restoring their own devices in cases of severe software failure.

Electric vehicle conditional serialization

Owners of the electric vehicle Xiaomi SU7 report authentication errors after replacing parts such as headlights. Officials have said the Xiaomi SU7 can not complete over the air software updates unless upgradeable parts have Xiaomi approved identification keys.

Advertisements in system apps

A scareware advert is shown in Mi Video when media playback is paused

Xiaomi devices come with several pre-installed first-party apps that contain advertisements, including full-screen deceptive scareware ads urging users to install malware. Workarounds exist to disable ads in some apps, including Mi File Explorer, Mi Browser, MIUI Downloads, MIUI Security, Mi Music, Mi Video and MIUI Themes.

Most of the aforementioned apps can be substituted for FOSS alternatives, but they cannot be uninstalled without advanced methods such as ADB.

Sending user's browsing history to China

In 2020, it was revealed that Xiaomi phones send vast amount of data to Xiaomi, including browsing history, folders opened and many other things users do on their phones. Xiaomi insists that privacy is not affected, but none of their statements really contradict the allegations of vast data collection.

Most of the data is sent to servers in Singapore which belong to Chinese tech giant Alibaba Cloud. Users can verify themselves which connections are made by using the connection log feature in an app such as No Root Firewall, NetGuard or Tracker Control. This shows the phones sometimes suddenly getting really "chatty", at times in the middle of the night.

The only way to mitigate this is to use a custom ROM such as /e/ or LineageOS. Users who do not have the technical skill to do this should use an app like Tracker Control from the F-Droid store to limit connections and use an alternate browser such as Firefox (Google Play Store) or Fennec (F-Droid store). Built-in applications should be avoided as much as possible.

Links to the Chinese government

As a Chinese company, Xiaomi is under direct control of the Chinese government and the Communist Party. China is an autocratic dictatorship and a surveillance state, which users should take into consideration when using internet connetced software and hardware products from the region. The company cannot deny requests from the Chinese state for user data and must collaborate unconditionally in state espionage cases. This law also applies extraterritorially and thus user data worldwide is affected.

Some phone models display a cartoon of a Mitu, the Xiaomi mascot bunny performing maintainance on the iconic Android logo robot when booted into fastboot mode by holding down the corresponding button combination, which differs between phone models. This mascot is wearing an olive green fur hat that is part of the communist pioneer unifor and bears the characteristic red star on its front (which, incidentally, the North Korean Linux distribution Red Star OS also owes its name to), emphasising the patriotic stance of the company.