Xiaomi is apparently beginning the process of switching to data servers based outside of China. The move appears to come as the company prepares a renewed push into the international market while addressing user concerns of data privacy and comply with data protection regulations in non-Chinese countries.
The smartphone maker has seen massive gains into Asian markets with the marketing practices for its Xiaomi phones; although there have been hiccups when it was revealed that the MIUI Cloud Messaging service sends users phone numbers and device IMEI information back to servers located in China. Xiaomi has since updated the system to make it an opt-in choice, which has eased the concerns of users.
New concerns were raised when news of the Chinese government launching cyber attacks against Apple’s iCloud and Microsoft Login systems surfaced earlier this week.
It makes sense that Xiaomi would work around this issue if it wants to expand further overseas. However, the company is claiming that the move is to increase server response time for its many services. It has also signed up with content provide Akamai to achieve this goal; although the fact that data is no longer stored in one of the least secure countries in the world will not be lost on potential customers.
Key services and corresponding data from Mi Account, Cloud Messaging and Mi Cloud services are being moved from Beijing to AWS’ Oregon and Singapore zones.
[Source: Zdnet]
