Guangzhou-based writer and online commentator Ye Du said a large number of apps inside China contain a “back door” to enable surveillance.
Beijing is also very concerned about the possibility that overseas corporations like Apple could get their hands on potentially sensitive user data.
“Actually, everyone knows that it’s not just Xiaomi [that does such things],” Ye said. “All the software we use has back doors in it imposed by the government to supply them with so-called security information, including all the anti-virus software and applications.”
“When it comes to taking away users’ privacy and data of all kinds, Chinese companies are much worse than overseas companies, and there is always some level of official collusion, or even coercion, involved,” he said.
“In the name of so-called state security, they feel they have to be on top of everything the population does, their data, to collect it for various intelligence databases.”
Read more on Radio Free Asia.