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Onlookers fear the app could pose a significant threat to user privacy
Back in January, the Indian government launched its cybersecurity app Sanchar Saathi, aiming to tackle the growing challenge of mobile security and fraud.
Now, the government has scrapped an order that would have seen this app pre-installed on every mobile device sold in India.
On Monday, the government announced a new order that would give smartphone makers 90 days to ensure all devices have the Sanchar Saathi app embedded at the point of sale. For mobile phones already in shops but not yet sold, the government wants software updates to install the app within three months.
Now, after significant push back from cybersecurity experts and device manufacturers like Apple and Samsung, the government says it will no longer require pre-installation.
The Sanchar Saathi app – which means ‘communication partner’ in Hindi – is used to track lost or stolen phones and identify fraudulent mobile usage.
According to India’s Minister of Communications Jyotiraditya Scindia, the app has already delivered “strong citizen benefits” since its launch in January. These include 26 lakh (2.6 million) mobile phones traced and 7.23 lakh (723,000) successfully returned to their owners; 40.96 lakh (4.09 million) fraudulent mobile connections identified and disconnected based on citizen reports; and 6.2 lakh (620,000) fraud-linked IMEIs (International Mobile Equipment Identities) blocked to curb misuse.
To achieve this, however, the app reportedly requires permission to access phone calls, messages, call and message logs, photos, files, and the phone’s camera. These functionalities “cannot be disabled or restricted”, according to the order.
As such, watchdogs fear that the app represents a major threat to personal privacy and could ultimately be used by the government to monitor many different types of user activity, from the use of banned applications to VPNs.
“The problems deepen when we look at the scope and safeguards. The order invokes ‘telecom cyber security’ as a catch-all justification, but it does not define the functional perimeter of the app,” explained Apar Gupta, founder director of the Internet Freedom Foundation, to The Telegraph Online.
He added that there was a significant risk of ‘function creep’, where solutions evolve far beyond the scope of their original intent.
In response to this criticism, Scindia clarified earlier this week that users would be able to delete the pre-installed Sanchar Saathi app.
“There is no snooping and no call monitoring. If you want #SancharSaathiApp, keep it. The choice to activate, keep, or delete the app rests entirely with the user,” he said in a post on X (Twitter).
This reassurance, however, has seemingly done little to stem the criticism facing the government.
Most significantly, reports suggest that both Apple and Samsung were resistant to the order, with Apple telling Reuters it would not comply and “would convey its concerns to Delhi”.
Government apps being preinstalled on consumer devices is far from the norm; the only major markets where this is routinely practiced are China and Russia.
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