(Yicai Global) Aug. 14 -- Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com Inc. [NASDAQ:JD] has responded to recent media reports that its Jingdong Weilian smart home application automatically uploaded users' WiFi passwords without their knowledge. The function was disabled on products made from the second half of last year onward, the Beijing-based company said.

The firm also sought to reassure users that personal information could not be leaked if they used the app to connect new or old smart home devices. The data is not stored on cloud servers, JD.Com said.

The online retailer will look to update local network configurations on all devices through a system upgrade as soon as possible.

It uploaded the sensitive user data in order to ensure that wireless network configurations were consistent for smart devices manufactured before the second half of 2016, the firm said. This required the app to share WiFi data based on the HTTPS security protocol.

Technical tests have confirmed alleged sharing of personal data, reported state-owned news agency Xinhua's official Wechat account, citing a leading Chinese internet security company.

"Uploading users' WiFi passwords to its own servers" is totally redundant because smart home devices can connect with each other through WiFi connections within a local area network without uploading WiFi passwords to cloud servers. It is hard to explain what Jingdong Weilian was doing, said an engineer at the company.

The app's user agreement says it "will not store or alter any original information or data processed through mapping on remote devices, or disclose, transfer or use such information or data for any other purposes." However, uploading sensitive information such as WiFi passcodes does involve certain information safety risks, a network security specialist said.