A report on information safety issues inherent to some popular mobile phones is scheduled to be published at the end of this month, the National Communications Commission (NCC) said on Wednesday.
The government launched an investigation over information security risks posed by Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp’s models after one of the firm’s phones was found by a Finnish security company to be able to send the user’s information though a built-in text-messaging application to a Xiaomi server in Beijing without approval.
NCC Chairperson Howard Shyr (石世豪) said in a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee last month that two of Xiaomi’s smartphone models continued to pose information security risks even after the company had updated its operating system.
NCC Resources and Technologies Department Director Lo Chin-hsien (羅金賢) said that the Chinese smartphone manufacturer had introduced another upgrade of its operating system last month.
Aside from Xiaomi, the commission also tested 11 other popular smartphones in Taiwan that telecom operators use in deals offered to subscribers.
The commission has tasked a professional laboratory to conduct comprehensive tests on third-generation (3G) and fourth-generation (4G) phones, Lo said.
Lo did not elaborate on the testing procedure, except to say that it is yet to be completed.
He said that the commission is scheduled to publish a report on the tests by the end of the month, with the results to be discussed among NCC members, as well as the National Information and Communication Security Taskforce.
Lo said that information security remained the focus of the tests, particularly the applications built into the smartphones.
“The fundamental principle is respect for consumer rights,” Lo said. “We want to make sure that consumers are asked before any function is activated.”
Another focus is to examine applications to make sure they give legitimate reasons for access to users’ personal data, including address books, Lo said, adding that it would be unreasonable for an application to ask for such access if it has no need to use the data.
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