Taiwan’s communication regulator on Tuesday cleared 12 of the world’s major smartphone makers–including Apple, Samsung and Xiaomi of breaching local data protection laws.
The National Communications Commission said that all the 12 brands it had tested including handsets made by China’s Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corp, Apple , Samsung, LG and Sony sold locally do not violate personal data protection laws.
Taiwanese mobile phone makers HTC Corp, Asustek Computer Inc, Far EasTone Telecommunications Co Ltd, Taiwan Mobile Co Ltd and U.S.-based InFocus Corp, whose handsets are made by Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, were also cleared of breaching the data protection laws by the NCC.
“We will ask all smartphones sold with contracts at local service providers to pass such privacy test in the future,” James Lou, an NCC official who was involved in the testing, told The Wall Street Journal.
Mr. Lou said although the test, which started in early November and was conducted by two laboratories, indicated some risks, but the companies weren’t violating the law.
