(ECNS) -- Chinese search engines Baidu and Sogou said they have fixed bugs in Chinese language input software that have been criticized for infringing on user privacy, Being Youth Daily reported Friday.
An Internet engineer that goes by the nickname "zhengmispark" disclosed on his Weibo account that software on the two popular sites saved and uploaded typed information to their servers.
Baidu and Sogou collected the information without any encryption, meaning it could be easily stored or hacked and used for other purposes, he said.
The engineer also shared screen shots to show how a particular phrase he typed was instantly stored in the software's server.
His post was forwarded 6,940 times on Weibo after its publication, triggering discussions of other privacy leaks by these companies.
In 2013, Wooyun.org, a Chinese online platform sharing information about system security vulnerability, warned that Sogou's input software put sensitive information of users, such as IDs and photos, at risk.
Both companies said they have corrected their software to stop the unencrypted uploading of typed information.
The programs are designed to use search engine techniques to analyze and categorize the most popular words or phrases that users prefer to increase efficiency.
