A number of reports from concerned security researchers raised privacy concerns last week concerning the browsers’ “aggregated data collection”. Aggregate data refers to non-numerical and numerical information that is obtained from multiple sources or individuals and compiled into data summary for the purpose of public reporting.
Xiaomi announced through an update on its blog post that the Mi Browser and Mi Browser Pro have been updated to the version 12.1.4, with the Mint Browser updated to the version 3.4.3. With the new updates, aggregated data collection is disabled by default and can be turned on or off by the user. Users can confirm to ascertain if they now have the improved incognito mode on the Xiaomi browser by going to Settings > Incognito mode settings in the browser. The Enhanced Incognito mode option when enabled allows Xiaomi collect users browsing data, including search queries through Google and other search engines. You can get the updated Mi Browser Pro and Mint Browser apps via Google Play. For MIUI users who have a pre-installed version of the Mi Browser, they will receive an over-the-air update that can be installed manually by going through Settings > System apps updater. Previously, the Xiaomi browsers harvested data from users’ search queries, sending this data to remote servers hosted by Alibaba and rented by Xiaomi. But with the new updates, turning off the aggregated data collection functionality should prevent your data from being sent to remote servers according to Xiaomi. References
