The National Communications Commission yesterday said that none of the 12 mobile phones it selected for information security screening violated the Personal Information Protection Act (個人資料保護法).
The government launched the screening after a report published by Finland-based F-Secure Corp showed that devices from Chinese smartphone brand Xiaomi Corp use a built-in text-messaging app that can send users’ information to the company’s servers in Beijing without their approval.
The commission said it tested handsets from Asustek Computer Inc, Apple Inc, Sony Corp, Huawei Technologies and other brands.
The test included Xiaomi’s Red Mi devices — not the Xiaomi handsets mentioned by F-Secure — said Lo Chin-hsien (羅金賢), director of the commission’s Resources and Technologies Department.
Lo said that the commission is scheduled to announce additional test details today, adding that the results would be sent to device suppliers and the Executive Yuan.
Asked whether the government would prohibit public officials from using Xiaomi mobile phones due to potential information security concerns, Lo said that such a decision can only be made by the Executive Yuan.
Describing the test, Lo said that the 12 handsets were examined to see whether they can send personal information to suppliers’ servers via mobile communication or Wi-Fi networks.
“If we find that the data that users are asked to send to the servers are sufficient to identify a person, we determine that the mobile phone has violated the law. All of them have followed the regulations in this regard,” Lo said.
As an example, Lo said it would be unreasonable if users are asked to provide their address book just to download an app. That did not happen with any of the tested devices, he said.
Lo said that the commission aims to set test standards for handset information security by the end of next year.
It will also establish procedures to recognize laboratories qualified to conduct testing, as well as certification labels for devices with acceptable information security mechanisms, he said.
“In the future, all mobile phones that consumers acquire under service contracts will need information security labels,” he said.
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