Japanese-language input applications made by Chinese internet giant Baidu are secretly
logging users’ keystrokes and collecting their personal information and sending it
to servers in China, according to new reports from NHK and the Yomiuri Shimbun.
Baidu IME converts hiragana phonetic script into kanji characters and katakana phonetic
script.
Baidu IME can be downloaded for free and is said to have more than 2 million users in
Japan.
Baidu Simeji, a Japanese-language input app for smartphones and tablets, is also growing
in popularity in Japan.
Internet security firm Net Agent discovered the data mining and traced it back to Baidu’s
servers in China.
The Japanese government on Thursday ordered all of its agencies as well as research institutes
and 12 universities including the University of Tokyo to suspend use of Baidu IME.
Baidu’s corporate office in Japan responded to the news by saying that the company will
strive to remedy the problem so that users can operate the software worry-free.