Sony smartphones are sending data back to servers in China

Own a Sony phone? You may be transmitting data
back to servers in China without knowing it, even if
you haven’t installed a single app.
That’s not something you’d necessarily expect from a
Japanese company, particularly one that was already
busted for shipping a rootkit in its software. Sony
has been struggling to stay afloat in the smartphone
market, and the last thing they need is a privacy
debacle rattling consumer confidence.
So what’s going on? A Baidu folder is appearing on
affected Sony phones. Delete it, reboot the phone,
and the folder comes right back like the proverbial
cat who wouldn’t stay away. The folder isn’t the real
cause for concern, though; it’s the fact that the
phones open a connection to servers in China that’s
making users nervous.
Several Reddit users have reported finding this folder
on their phones, too — and not necessarily phones
made by Sony. One owns an HTC One M7, another an
HTC One X, a few others the OnePlus One. There’s
even a Nexus 5 owner claiming that he’s seen the
Baidu folder pop up.
Now, obviously on a stock Nexus 5 running Google’s
vanilla Android ROM there’s no Baidu folder and no
software running that would make one appear after
the fact. The most likely culprit, then, is a third-party
app that’s being installed is communicating with
Baidu servers and creating the folder.
As for why it’s happening on new Sony phones out
of the box or immediately after performing a factory
restore on them, that’s up to Sony to explain. Right
now it looks as though it’s the MyXperia app that’s
to blame — and some are guessing that Sony might
be leaning on Baidu for location services.
For their part, Sony has promised to issue a software
fix. Their wording in the Xperia forums doesn’t make
it clear, though, whether they’re simply going to
make sure the Baidu folder disappears and doesn’t
come back or whether they’re going to shut down
the mysterious connection completely.
Those of you who own a Sony phone, have seen the
Baidu folder, and find the whole situation a tad
unsettling, check out the Sony forum discussion for
instructions on blocking MyXperia from establishing
the connection. It’s a good workaround until Sony
comes up with a permanent fix.
Via : geek