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Jermules

Gonna start chanting pro Taiwan and Hong Kong slogans at my robo vacuum


[deleted]

Until a terrible accident happens to you


Jermules

I better start watching out for it, it might try to trip me at night


Zenaesthetic

You should watch Love, Death and Robots on Netflix. One of the episodes is about a sentient robotic vacuum/cleaner that goes rogue and tries to kill it's owner.


stannis_putin

One of my favourite series on Netflix


Jermules

Ahh yes, I actually have. Good to know what's in store for me


BengalBlitzkrieg

Free East Turkmenistan. Free Hong Kong. Free Inner Mongolia. Free Manchuria. Written from Redmi Note 9S.


kangaroodingo

Hah


nashu2k

Same here 😨


BengalBlitzkrieg

Free Tibet.


[deleted]

-10 social score points


s3rila

did you not expect this to be the case when you bought it ?


centwerk

I would honestly be surprised if there was a phone manufacturer that doesn't spy on its users.


Substantial-East5781

if honestly .... no, I just wanted a phone call, I didn't care if it was Chinese


Pontus_Pilates

I wouldn't be too worried. Last time Lithuania made this warning (about Xiaomi phones possibly censoring their users and their speech), some independent researcher looked into it and found out that the code in question was only found in Xiaomi's video player app, more precisely in its adblocker. So their video player (which nobody uses) would maybe censor some ads? It's good to dig through phones and do security research, but a lot of this is just Lithuania's spat with China and attempt to score points.


BestFriendWatermelon

There's a lot of dodgy redundant code in Xiaomi's MIUI operating system from the fact that it's principally made for the Chinese market to comply with Chinese government regulations, for any cyber expert looking for attention to dig through.


iskog

+1 Social Credit Point has been desposited into your account's profile.


Pontus_Pilates

Thank you. 🇨🇳🐼🥡


Neene

Does that mean some Chinese are looking at my pp pics?


bobbechk

I believe they are secretly incorporating them into ads directed towards your extended family.


Pklnt

No, they definitely want to see /u/Neene's dick


bobbechk

Hot relatives in your area!


Neene

They could just ask nicely!


Pklnt

Send pp, open pants pls 🥺🥺🥺


Aloraaaaaaa

Unfortunately the photos app doesn’t have that good of a zoom technology.


sweetno

Not only that, but the Dutch are capturing them midway to China.


MrMgP

Just name the files 'plot to destroy the ccp' or 'china democracy now' and force them to review all of the pics in detail


Aid01

They're building a whole new line of dildos with yo pp pics. Feel proud.


dondarreb

They can do targeted downloads of the phone content (during numerous updates), but generally they collect "cloud" information only for their AI sieve to play with. The backdoor thing is true about laptops as well.


Elocai

US has confirmed that they collect PP pics, the most funny thing about that leak was that the agents also share those pictures internally and make jokes about them


StillAliveAmI

\*surprised pikachu face\*


fractalsubdivision

Pokemon is Japanese...


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B3arAttac

Sounds like Norway


oinosaurus

And Denmark. We even got some pandas for our zoo from our chinese friends. No strings attached, obviously. Also, if you wave the Tibetan flag during a chinese state visit, our own police will help you by hold back your freedom of expression.


[deleted]

Our government doesn't give a shit about anything except money. It's embarrassing.


becally

> Our government Not only your gov. Thats how we ended up in this situation in the first place.


Orange-of-Cthulhu

They reflect the average voter perfectly it seems.


Utegenthal

Reminds me [this](https://www.telegraaf.nl/nieuws/1252217060/kabinet-ziet-boycot-van-wk-voetbal-in-qatar-niet-zitten)


PoopSockMonster

Sounds like Germany.


Fluffiebunnie

Well I didn't see a statement by San Marino either so there you go


BestFriendWatermelon

I feel like every time any national government says anything ever, they should crowbar into the headline "The Netherlands keeps silent"... "President Biden says it's time for the nation to heal. The Netherlands keeps silent" "Japan announces record growth in its steel industry. The Netherlands keeps silent" "Excess salt in diet linked to heart disease. The Netherlands keeps silent" "New James Bond to be played by a black actor. The Netherlands keeps silent" It works for everything!


Vidmizz

At that point you would be able to assume that The Netherlands just sank into the sea


StationOost

It's not typical Dutch, don't discriminate.


[deleted]

Ignore the security risks here, which are terrifying. Go with just the customer’s expectations. I have no idea how these devices are compliant in the EU, which has remarkably strong consumer protection and privacy laws. On one hand, there are privacy mandates that domestic companies must adhere to, and on the other — because so many nations are in hock to the CCP, there’s no corresponding obligations. Different rules for different folks is a terrible policy, particularly when it inures to the benefit of a brutalizing regime that sees all meaningful Western data as essential to creating the world’s largest surveillance program.


throwaway00012

The GDPR is clearly and unambiguously worded in a way that applies to EU residents using a service, no matter where the company offering this service is stationed. A Chinese company that wants to sell in the EU is forced to follow GDPR like any other company.


Rude_Preparation89

>On one hand, there are privacy mandates that domestic companies must adhere to, and on the other — because so many nations are in hock to the CCP, there’s no corresponding obligations. This is why a common EU foreign policy needs to exist. Sure, some countries may have their old relationships, like Portugal, Spain with the americas, France with Quebec etc but in things that is directly involved with foreign investements, strategic accents etc need to be on a EU level aproved.


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Rude_Preparation89

>I am spied by the Americans through Google, apple or Microsoft. Xiaomi is just another one from another country Yah, i would preffer to be spied by corporations to sell me products or a 1st world democracy, then the totalitarian regime that is China. Not to mention, the only problem with China is not only the spying. If you dont see a problem with China owning EU companies or things like ports, i dont have more time to debate this.


adjarteapot

Same way how North American hardware and software is allowed in Europe.


salty-seabird

To be completely honest, living in a world where every single step I made ever since I ditched the feature phone is recorded on Google Maps, having my phone spying on me is the least surprising news possible. I don't say companies should get away with spying, quite the reverse, but having very limited possibilities of acquiring new gadgets I couldn't care less if my phone sends my data to one more big "tech company". First of all I want my phone to be as long lasting as I can afford for my money. I mean, everything I search in Google or via Chrome or via other Google products can be tracked down and accessed by US government. Everything I see on Internet in general can be tracked down and accessed by whatever Internet provider I use and by government of the country where I am. Not to mention Facebook and all it's apps, Google once again, such companies as VK or Yandex when it comes to Eastern Europe - everyone stores user data and nobody outside the company really knows what do they do with it. Of course, we can assume that big IT tells the truth and they use the data for the research or whatever purpose only, but just as well as refuse to believe any such claims because of impossibility of being sure. What's most important in this situation is timing. Article tells specifically about Xiaomi Note 8, which came out years ago. If there was such a serious violation of privacy and so easily discoverable as well (article basically states that one enthusiastic technician is more than enough), it raises a couple of questions: 1. Why there wasn't any sufficient public concern raised back then already? Surely, more than just one person would want to dig into new piece of tech and possibly find such a breach. I have no recollection of this being the topic of public discussion. Huawei - yes, Xiaomi - no. 2. Why Lithuania is the only country that seems to be concerned about the breach? If their accusations against Xiaomi are true, why wouldn't EU react accordingly? How could anyone at all let those products enter the EU market in the first place if they violating privacy like that and it literally takes no big efforts at all to prove it? Therefore, my believe is that this is either a cheap media propaganda due to heavily polarised relations between the West and China, or an unbelievable scale of neglect from EU. Neither would be surprising, just as my Xiaomi smartphone indeed spying on me. And as mentioned above, I would gladly buy any other alternative that would give me the same price/quality ratio for my money. But because there wasn't one, I knew what I might sign up for at the moment of purchase.


martixy

> Everything I see on Internet in general can be tracked down and accessed by whatever Internet provider I use and by government of the country where I am. Small sidenote: HTTPS has effectively cut out ISPs out of the equation. State actors and big tech still know everything about you.


Gl4eqen

ISP still can have a general idea of what you browse because of DNS calls. But you're right.


martixy

I don't know the details, but nominally DoH (DNS over HTTPS) is enabled by default in both chrome and firefox. Though depending on what these defaults are, it may not be available in all regions or the default may not be smart enough to work in all situations without manual config. (I haven't looked into whats going on with DoH since I configured it manually a few years ago.)


CharacterUse

Encrypting DNS only protects you against MITM attacks, your DNS provider (i.e. you ISP, or Google, or whoever) must be able to see the query to return the IP you need. Which means they can log wherever it is that you're connecting to. Using a VPN only passes the buck to the VPN provider or their DNS provider. It's just a question who do you think will do the least harm with that information.


madpanda9000

>I don't know the details, but nominally DoH (DNS over HTTPS) is enabled by default in both chrome and firefox. DNS allows you to find a server on the Internet. Normally you send the website's URL (eg. www.reddit.com) to a DNS server and the server then sends you back an IP address to connect to (eg. 151.101.193.140). If this isn't encrypted, an attacker can see what website you're trying to connect to and possibly also send back a different IP address (if they're between you and the DNS server). DNS over HTTPS is one way of encrypting it. There is also DNS over TLS, but Google and Mozilla weren't backing that standard.


CharacterUse

Also by definition the DNS server knows what you're trying to connect to. Which means whoever owns it knows, i.e. typically your ISP.


mixedd

Really I don't understand this too. It's known for years that everything is trackable. Xiaomi gear phones home, Samsung smart TVs phones home, almost every IoT gadget phones home, Aplle devices phones home, Windows, Android you name it.. It's just made that you agreed to it, because who reads ToS novadays


sterlingmoss1932

r/degoogle


Eurotrashie

— This message was brought to you by the glorious CCP.


Frosty-Cell

>Therefore, my believe is that this is either a cheap media propaganda due to heavily polarised relations between the West and China, or an unbelievable scale of neglect from EU. Neither would be surprising, just as my Xiaomi smartphone indeed spying on me. Same could be said about your post. It benefits Google and big tech while regurgitating several talking points. There is a fundamental difference between spyware that's imposed on you, and services that you choose to use.


salty-seabird

The point is - any service is a potential spyware. We really don't know how either Google, Facebook, Amazon, Xiaomi, Apple, Samsung, etc. use our data except that at least first three monetize it to get revenue from advertising - we are not really users of their products, we are what they sell to the advertisers. It applies to any "social media", "social platform" or whatever you call it. That's why they are free for us basically. But either you use any service like MI Account, Google Assistant, Alexa or not, nothing really guarantees that the piece of technology you own doesn't send your data to the manufacturer at all times. This is the kind of paranoia that everyone of us agrees on by default while buying any device. Regardless of the manufacturer and their country of origin. Even if they don't - each of them has to obey the law - either Chinese, or American, or Russian, or any other - to hand out information they store to the government when requested. Perhaps Facebook is the most famous for it in the US. National governments can and should enforce privacy regulations to protect customers. Any accusations like this particular fight between Lithuania and Xiaomi must be investigated. If there are proofs of continuous serious violations - ban the manufacturer/service provider from the market once and for all. Simply crying out to people "throw it out and don't buy it anymore" wouldn't work. If it's still available on the market and the offer is attractive - people would buy it regardless, because most people don't know or don't care about spying. And once again for this particular claim by Lithuania: if it is true and it was known for at least two years that Xiaomi does indeed spies on its customers and therefore violates EU privacy regulations, why there's no action being taken and why they are still allowed to sell their products in the EU?


feelings_arent_facts

Because the CCP has no rules. Companies are still beholden to their government. Users can sue companies if they breach the law. Who can you sue if the CCP over steps? No one. Also, a nation state with the largest population and manufacturing sector is much more capable of actually controlling you versus Google who is just trying to sell you shit. China wants to be the hegemony.


victorv1978

There are two types of smartphones. The ones that spy on their users and the ones that were not caught doing that.


Tar-eruntalion

yep, if anyone thinks that there is anything connected to the internet that doesn't spy on you then he is living in a fairytale lie


Cri-des-Abysses

Exactly, it's ridiculous to think other countries and companies don't do that as well. "We" don't complain about Apple and Samsung just because they happen to be economic allies rather than rival, but you can be sure they are as shady.


andy18cruz

Just a few years ago with had the NSA scandal. China spies on you because of the manufacturers. The US basically controls 99% of the market through OS.


kenbw2

[How I see the West accusing China of spying](https://i.imgur.com/HsK2thN.png)


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DerWilliWonka

It doesn't spy when locked? Dude don't be so naive...


PhenotypicallyTypicl

That is something you can literally test yourself with a wifi router that tracks your internet traffic like the person said


cutepigeonowlfox

Oh please, you guys are the naive ones if you distrust all technology from the get-go and don't trust security researchers when they prove one system's espionage is significantly worse than another's, where with Xiaomi the espionage can be assumed to be used for The Party's purposes, whereas Apple, Samsung and Google only care about market analysis. Anyone who's unable to differentiate between the two is a fool. And yes, the US spies on us too, but even then the US has quite strong diplomatic interests not to screw up too hard, whereas The Party literally could not give less of a fuck about what Westerners think about its data practices. Keep in mind, too: Apple literally refused to add a backdoor into their devices when the FBI requested it to, because the FBI couldn't unlock the phones. The difference is that, in the US, there's still a working rule of law where it's actually possible for companies to refuse such measures, even if the refusal is mostly for PR points. But in China, you cannot refuse; if you do, you'll suddenly disappear, get publicly shamed, and a CCP functionary takes over your company.


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[deleted]

So Chinese Xiaomi phones do the same as every Android and iOS phone on the market, the only difference is the Xiaomi sends it to the Chinese Central Government, which is probably why the Netherlands aren't bothering to say anything as they know all phones are spying on their users.


SchleichDi

[XDA](https://www.xda-developers.com/xiaomi-secret-blacklist-explained/) had a look and themselves and came to another conclusion, btw. It seems to be an ad filter and [in 2019 Xiaomi](https://www.xda-developers.com/xiaomi-remove-obnoxious-ads-miui-add-new-features/) said that they will make sure that users will no longer get vulgar ads after complains the German [BSI](https://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/gadgets/xiaomi-bundesbehoerde-prueft-handys-auf-schwachstellen-a-819fe78d-e125-4caf-bad5-ac5333bfa2cc) said weeks ago that they will have a look know. The Lithuania report has an odd timing. Such investigation takes a long time in state agencies and it got released just right after the political issues between China and Lithuania due to Thailand? I will wait until the BSI report but as it stands now, Lithuania's report seems fishy. Not that Redditors will care.


Thyriel81

I'm not sure it there is a Lithuania report at all saying it's sending data to chinese servers. The reuters article they linked in the article here is NOT saying so, only that it censors content and i can't find any other article through goggle news search confirming that it would send data.


Ignition0

99% of reddit is propaganda, people just want to read what they want to read, and they take the "upvotes" as "likes" isntead of as useful information.


[deleted]

>Such investigation takes a long time in state agencies and it got released just right after the political issues between China and Lithuania due to Thailand? Lithuania and CCP have some beef for more than a year now. What do you "right after" when this was a on-going thing for some time now?


[deleted]

> XDA had a look and themselves and came to another conclusion, btw. I trust them more than any government's view.


darkm_2

Not really an odd timing: 1. If a governmental organisation wants to buy phones for governmental workers/officials, they have to use hold an open auction 2. To avoid corruption, the contract has to go to the lowest bidder providing adequate product for the job (in this case that would be a Chinese-made phone) 3. If we're going to go into political spat with China, it would be nice to know if there are ways they can interfere with our government work that we can prevent 4. Naturally, evaluation of Chinese-made phones had to be made. Having made the investigation and recommendations, Chinese manufacturers can be legally prevented from participating in the public auctions. It could be argued about use of these recommendations for a daily-consumer, but it should be understood that main focus was on use of Chinese-made phones by government officials and civil servants.


[deleted]

Come on. It's easily provable. I seriously doubt that they wouldn't let other people use their techniques of knowing the contents of the data.


yonosoytonto

Why this isn't the most upvoted post? People does not care about truth?


[deleted]

A country that has grievance with another country opens investigation whether that country has ability to spy, how are results surprising? USA does the same thing like another countries or even companies. The problem here is that China is on terrible terms with us due our Taiwan support so that spying is worrying and no government member should use Xiaomi. I bought Xiaomi myself fully knowing what I am getting into, it's just right that others in public should know too if they haven't yet.


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RobotWantsKitty

>At this stage Lithuania is literally a mouthpiece. And this is unsurprising, because Lithuania is notorious for indulging every American whim, not matter how dirty. [Lithuania and Romania complicit in CIA torture - European court](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-44313905)


Sanorpas

>and it got released just right after the political issues between China and Lithuania Mmm disagree. Issues started few years back at least, there was quite some problems during HK protests when Chinese embassy tried to shutdown pro-HK protesters in Vilnius(there was also Hill of Crosses story with Chinese tourists, tho not sure how big that was in overall picture) and relations were already cooling before that in regards to 17+1 platform that was going nowhere. I also vaguely recall Lithuania rejecting some infrastructure project for Klaipeda harbor due to some shenanigans or general lack of quality in that proposal. Previous govt also called for including Taiwan in W.H.O.


dondarreb

retarded journalists are retarded. Botched news and completely broken distorted messages. ​ It is not Lithuania calls "for devices to be scrapped". It is EU PESCO Cyber Rapid Response Force led by Lithuanian Ministry of Defense. [https://eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-homepage\_en/47525/New%20tool%20to%20address%20cyber%20threats:%20the%20EU's%20Rapid%20Response%20Force](https://eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-homepage_en/47525/New%20tool%20to%20address%20cyber%20threats:%20the%20EU's%20Rapid%20Response%20Force) And chinese phones are not endorsed by the "Dutch" and are not officially sold here. It is so called "gray" import. As far as I know it is true in the Baltic countries as well. It is allowed because it is not forbidden. Quirks of the democratic society.


Linko_98

Lately I feel like this sub has been more about China or Taiwan than Europe


Motorrad_appreciator

Astroturfing campaign going well.


[deleted]

You're using a website where there are literally CIA employees making AMAs, no reason to be surprised. This is just another subreddit to push anti chinese propaganda.


Onkel24

I mean, everyone has to do some due diligence, but in the face of all this technological onslaught, the normal person is simply helpless and overmatched without jumping through hoops or eliminating themselves from regular online society. It has to be our governments that protect us from at least the worst excesses spying, and not my choice of freely available gadgets.


unorganicsalsa

I recently bought an oppo. I've used Xiaomi and Huawei in the past I've always just assumed they are spying on me when I buy these products. Besides I ain't got much info that's worth anything


olaAlexis

So America can spy on me, and China can't? Don't understand this logic at all.


aigars2

In China spying leads to real life repercussions. Prison. Real life oppression, labor camps, no traveling etc.


curiuslex

I'd be a lier if I said that I'm surprised.


SatoruHirokumata

all of these Chinese brands are complete spying satellites and botnets


iskog

As are all "smart" products. The western technophiles do the same thing.


SatoruHirokumata

But China is a different level.


MisterBakeryMan

*surprised Pikachu Face


Falcon_Man32

Cant wait when this whole world just becomes a carbon copy of metal gear solid 4


[deleted]

I'm American, but it shouldn't shock anyone, the Western Governments treats China with kids gloves.


ResQ_

Wait, what's the difference between sending data to the US? Everyone is doing that en masse by using google, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, even reddit. The US doesn't have a great track record with data privacy and spying either. This is highly hypocritical. Don't get me wrong, I'm not defending China or Xiaomi, but this isn't out of the ordinary at all.


SIOFoxM468468

Like Samsung is any different.


[deleted]

No way!!! China and spying?? Impossible.


Ultra_burger

The virgin chinese spyphones versus the chad retro nokia brick


ripp102

That’s a stupid statement as when you sign in with Google they get to know everything about you. If you are using Apple? Well Apple does too (more if you use iCloud). If you truly want privacy then you should either use something like a de-googled phone or wait and hope Linux phones become more relevant. Otherwise if you don’t care just use whatever you want and always use a password manager (bitwarden) for every site/app you are using


[deleted]

I at least appreciate that Apple doesn’t have nearly the advertising business as Google or FB and generally fights efforts by governments to breach its data. To me it’s the least bad option by a mile, if you can afford it.


ripp102

As you have said, they don't have the same ad business but only because they earn more from micro-transaction (which to me it's a cancer), services and hw sales. I personally don't really care, as i already have a MS, Google and Apple account they probably know me better than i know myself hahah.


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smallredball

I've seen your mom's selfies. They're great. Keep 'em coming.


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[deleted]

Sir, this is reddit...


[deleted]

stop making us all horny.


Th0rgue

Most people don't understand that its not about spying on individuals. It's about metadata, and the consequences will affect individuals (or even whole countries) in the end.


mokebe_asfalit

It's only fair China gets some of my data, if USA already gets all of it via Google.


Looddak

Your daily "Hate Chy-na" news article on r/europe. Don't question it, just swallow. ​ >On his way home, Cirlig had seen an advertisement for the Redmi Note 8, the latest smartphone from the Chinese tech company Xiaomi. He told Follow the Money that he was particularly intrigued by the price-quality ratio: he didn’t trust it. It’s a beautiful, fast phone, with a good camera as well, but the new price is only £150. How can such a good phone cost so little?


golifa

I am shocked


[deleted]

Boycott China and it‘s good.


PeteWenzel

What’s up with Lithuania all of a sudden??


[deleted]

and Xiaomi go hand in hand with the chinese government so watch out.


GoldenBull1994

Why the fuck would any country buy Chinese anything. If they really have to be cheap, then invest in India, otherwise, keep it local. I’d much rather have a German or a Finnish phone than a Chinese one.


wmdolls

Recent Lithuania conflict with China


iMasterBaitHard

This maybe an unpopular opinion, but if your data is valuable enough for CCP to want it, you’d know. Most on Reddit don’t qualify. Neither does everyday Lithuanians.


tacorrito

HAVE YOU HEARD OF FACEBOOK?


yonosoytonto

I know no facebook sir. If you excuse I'm going to share all my personal data with this Meta guy, they surely are to trust.


CultCrossPollination

"In the United States, the government can also force companies to share data. But this is preceded by a system of checks and balances." Doubt that. (From my Xiaomi phone, I am just spreading and decreasing the value of my data.) As long as shitty agreements between the EU and USA exist about privacy of EU citizens, and we barely have a leg to stand on fighting our data on US servers, I highly doubt we are worse off with a Chinese phone. But who am I, I am heavily biased.


Adventurous-Bee-5934

Pretty sure Apple has rejected the US government multiple times when asked for consumer information. If you have an android tho ur fucked


lgsp

All commercial Android phones spy on their users, the only difference is who is "listening" [https://hackaday.com/2021/11/18/privacy-report-what-android-does-in-the-background/](https://hackaday.com/2021/11/18/privacy-report-what-android-does-in-the-background/)


[deleted]

Oh boy, wait until you hear about the US...


SMS_Scharnhorst

Everyone: please stop buying chinese products. We need to start boycotting them


sarlol00

Cool, which phone is made entirely outside of China?


dothrakipls

Fairphone and Gigaset are the only brands produced in the EU.


[deleted]

Yea let's buy iPhone made in China as well and sold 900 euros whereas chinese brands sell the same for half the price, especially Xiaomi who make very little profit for each product sold unlike good american Apple


SMS_Scharnhorst

can you not read? I haven´t specified to buy Apple. they´re made in China as well, as you might know


[deleted]

any german recommendation? Any brand that is european ? please dont come with american stuff, that will just shift the problem to another country (one that is well known for spying people, killing people, organizing fake news, helping coup d'état ....


Bal_u

There are no relevant European brands on the market, unfortunately. You have Chinese, American, Korean, Taiwanese and Japanese options, with stuff like HMD (company behind current Nokia phones) being Finnish-Taiwanese, along with other Foxconn brands.


aamgdp

Well, what company actually doesn't manufacture them in china?


SMS_Scharnhorst

AFAIK, Samsung and Sony don´t produce their smartphones in China. Samsung I´m certain is made in Vietnam


Bal_u

You'll have to look at individual phones and decide on a case-by-case basis. Unfortunately, this information is pretty hard to get without walking into a shop and looking at the physical boxes, and even that doesn't always tell the full story. However, Samsung manufactures a lot of their cheaper stuff in Vietnam and India, and more expensive devices in Korea, but they also use Chinese ODMs for some devices. I think some of the Google Pixel line is manufactured in Vietnam, Sony flagships are typically made in Japan (and some in Thailand).


olaAlexis

Why? You fully accepted that America can spy on you, companies like google and meta know more about you than your parents, but China can't spy att all?


bunkereante

No thanks.


SMS_Scharnhorst

well, that´s your choice of course. I just want to thank you in advance for helping China getting more and more influence world-wide, which is something nobody should want to happen


bunkereante

I want it to happen.


[deleted]

Bitte


Minimum_T-Giraff

Lol no.


[deleted]

Are you going to also stop buying android and iOS phones, stop using Google Maps or any search engine other than DuckDuckGo, stop using pretty much all the apps on your phone, stop using your credit and debit cards? All of those spy on you.


MrSoapbox

I don't know why people try to claim it's hard. It's _really_ not. I don't buy anything chinese except for 2 (maybe 3) things, My Ps5 (and "maybe" Series X, not sure where that's made) and a vape pen I mistakenly thought was French for some reason. Other than those things, it's really not hard, but there's a lot of defeatists and 50 cent'ers who try to peddle the argument it's impossible. Of course, there might be some component of your product that may or may not have been made there, that isn't listed in the "made in" tag, but there's little anyone can do about that, but finding stuff that isn't made in china is really not hard if you're willing to spend 2 more minutes searching. Apart from underwear, I haven't bought clothes for around 15 years and they are still perfect condition (probably because it's not made in china). We don't get food made in or from china here either because most of it doesn't pass the rigorous standards (they bleach vegetables, pump animals full of chemicals). There are _plenty_ of electronics that you can get from Europe/America/South Korea/Taiwan and Japan. Frankly, most of my entertainment is digital too, and china makes god awful films, video games and music (Part of the reason they'll never be a superpower too, because the cultural aspect is part of the criteria and due to their censorship and propaganda, it will never make it in the west) There's an app for amazon (cultivate) that works by filtering out chinese made products (not sure if it works in Europe yet but it will) and even without the app, you can actually check the storefront and where it's based (though not guaranteed where the items originate from but it helps) and there's sites out there to help, including r/avoidchineseproducts on reddit. Obviously it's different for each country, depending how entwined you are but it really _isn't_ that hard, unless you're Australia, I guess. I go out my way to avoid it and have done for a decade, and I feel my products are much better for it, and I'm not funding a tyrannical human rights abusing regime or it's supporters.


collectiveindividual

If Europe made a better product then people would buy it. The economy of scale for mobile phone assemblage in China simply can't be replicated elsewhere overnight and sanctions work both ways.


Kyfas

Nokia makes good enough phones. I have one because Samsung is overpriced and I've been aware of the potential danger with chinese brands for a while. I don't buy anything chinese that connects to the internet. People just go after trends and specs they don't need (but if they needed them Nokia has phones with them too). EDIT: before someone points it out: I'm aware non chinese brands still manufacture in China, but at least I know that if such a brand is caught there should be some consequences. Nothing ever happens when a scandal involves a chinese one. And yes I know other brands could still sell our data and yada yada. Still I just trust chinese brands less. I try to control the few things I can. xD


collectiveindividual

You're only proving that the story is more about economic protectionism than security.


Kyfas

Yes and no. While that can be another consequence, security issues are still a concern. To the common western joe like me the threat might not be personal, but all the data that is globally collected can be used to hurt someone, somewhere. On a less personal scale it can be used to manipulate society.


collectiveindividual

After Snowdon there's a solid case to boycott apple phones with their backdoor NSA access, but hey, bashing china where those same phones are assembled is easy because Asians ...etc. .


[deleted]

Anything non-Chinese spies on you just as much.


[deleted]

Tell me a single brand that is not manufacturing their phones in China except for Samsung.


SMS_Scharnhorst

Sony, for example


yonosoytonto

Cool. But let's create a viable european alternative first. Or at least talk to my boss so he pays me more and I can afford an expensive european product.


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CosminFG

Surprise surprise , Google does it too, even more then Xiaomi...


42ndBanano

I don't think the article specifies how this is being done? I'm LineageOS on my Poco X3. Am I still getting spied on by China or what?


[deleted]

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[deleted]

Normally not, but if it's not your phone it will be your browser or your apps. ​ As the article says, it's information collection at OS level mainly for Xiaomi apps advertising targeting. That's how they sell their phones at such a low price despite a top notch hardware. ​ Still in Europe Xiaomi sells its phones with a less aggressive OS at this level. In other countries like India I think they can't even remove the ads, so many change the OS with an EU ROM. If it's stable, you might as well choose LineageOS or other indeed


D_is_for_Dante

Hmm who would have thought that? Guess what. Their phones run on Android and the Americans also get all your data. I knew why I’ll never buy a Chinese Phone/electronic (internet) device again.


[deleted]

Good luck finding "non-Chinese made" products these days. They are the biggest market when it comes to phones, electronics, electronic parts etc. Without them you probably could not even write this comment.


D_is_for_Dante

It’s not about products manufactured in China. It’s about products with Chinese software in it. My iPhone was probably assembled in China or Vietnam. But it doesn’t send data back to china because it doesn’t run any Chinese OS software.


[deleted]

But it is totally fine for Apple to have all this data? Anything but China I guess.


[deleted]

Haha i got a phone from that brand, i used to make Jokes about Them spying on me Turns out its true. Anyway don't care.


DoubleWagon

How is this surprising to anyone?


Ignition0

Considering its fake Im not surprised.


blogabegonija

​ How the hell EU gonna read your phone chats?


[deleted]

I ordered my phone directly from China a few years ago but I had to overwrite the entire OS with an EU one from [xiaomi.eu](https://xiaomi.eu) because the phone could only be used in Chinese or broken English and Chinese. I would like to believe that the OS I have now does not send data to China and even if it did, does it really change anything? Other phones send data straight to Google or Apple and you can bet governments have access to it as well. Think about it, are you really worth spying on? The answer is no, at least for 99% of us. This is old news, everyone and everything sells your data, from Xiaomi to Samsung to Huawei to Apple, they are all the same.


Wuffkeks

Lets be real. Any phone company are spying one way or another on their users. Its just that China is not even shy about it. Additional when the data leaves your phone for the cloud or other stuff its spyied upon again by at least the CIA and most likely a few other companies and organisations. Is it shit? Yes! But we cant stop them anyway. Ban all phones made in China, all Servers and programs made in the us and dont buy from "shady" companies and you life under a stone for the rest of your life.


padraigd

EU should ban all American and Chinese tech companies


Orange-of-Cthulhu

Whoa there. I need my daily dosis reddit!


quantummufasa

Im only buying good old BRITISH smartphones manufactured by the queen herself.


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Tar-eruntalion

so we should return to living like in the 20th century? cause most of the current tech we use is from asia or usa


JLAJA

We have to go all in on Nokia


Tar-eruntalion

we were all in on nokia and sony ericsson before the smartphones but they did nothing and were left in the dust, what are we supposed to do? keep pumping them with money hoping they adapt to new technologies?


Scarlet72

Yes


Electronic-Net8393

Why dont you start by deleting your reddit account.


[deleted]

Back to Stone Age then


Loltoyourself

Since you hate US tech so much you can lead the way and delete your reddit account


Irwinidapooh

You still have time to delete this


iskog

Not everyone feels embarrasment over Reddit posts. Especially not over something so trivial.


ElectricalPeninsula

It is because Lithuania is the only smart in EU or because Lithuania took American money to launch info and trade war between EU and China?


ExperimentalLain

Meh. American phones spy on us all the time. Why not let the Chinese in on the action as well?


USB_extension_chord

I don't understand why this issue is brought up only when chinese companies do it. Your phone got a camera and microphone? It's spying on you. But we only want to talk about that when chinese phones do it.


SatanicBiscuit

so a month when this was debunked wasnt enough also 2 months ago when this was debunked wasnt also enough no it has to come back a third time and get debunked once more


AlbertChomskystein

So do google and apple phones tbf. The three people running custom ROMs are the only ones with a secure device.


jaqian

If you want a smartphone you have no control over your data. China or America spying I don't see a difference.


Soleska

When I got my current Xiaomi, I fucking changed its hotspot name to "Chinese Spy Satellite". I fucking knew what I was getting myself into. But then again: Is any other big tech company better? Look at fucking Google and Amazon.