India is set to modify an order requiring smartphone makers to pre-install a state-run cybersecurity app, the telecommunications minister said on Wednesday, signaling a softened government stance following a backlash over surveillance fears.
Earlier in the day, the main opposition party criticized the government over the issue, while newspaper editorials joined privacy advocates in denouncing the move.
The government is also likely to find itself at odds with phone makers. Apple does not plan to comply with the directive, sources said.
“We are ready to make changes to the order based on the information we receive,” Communications Minister Jyotiraditya M. Scindia told lawmakers in Parliament.
The Indian government has confidentially ordered companies like Apple, Samsung and Xiaomi to preload new phones with an app called Sanchar Saathi, or Communication Partner, within 90 days.
The government says the app only helps track and lock stolen phones and prevent their misuse.
Senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala said in a notice to parliament that the government needed to clarify the legal authority to “mandate a non-removable app” and called for the House to debate privacy and security risks.
“The serious, serious and real fear is also that a compulsorily installed application could have a backdoor, thus absolutely compromising the user’s data and privacy,” he added.
The notice also called for disclosure of what independent cybersecurity audits, safeguards and misuse prevention mechanisms exist for the app.
Describing the app as a tool to combat the “serious danger” of cybersecurity, the government also ordered that the app be pushed to users through software updates for phones already sold and that manufacturers ensure that the app is not disabled.
russian example
Modi’s plan has few precedents, according to industry sources. Russia may be the only other known example.
In August, Moscow ordered that a state-backed messaging app called MAX, a WhatsApp rival that critics said could be used to track users, had to be pre-installed on all mobile phones and tablets.
Apple will convey its concerns to New Delhi, noting that it does not follow such mandates anywhere in the world as they raise a number of privacy and security issues for the company’s iOS ecosystem, the sources said.
The plan has become the story of the day on prime-time Indian news, with politicians and privacy advocates discussing its pros and cons.
The main newspapers also intervened, with The Indian Express saying the directive “raises serious fears of surveillance and intrusion.”
He Indian Times He said the government should “withdraw the order,” adding that phones “are our private space and a mandatory intrusion by the government raises fears of more in the future.”
The firestorm of controversy marks the second time Modi has faced criticism over privacy issues.
In 2020, his government was also criticized for a mandatory Covid-19 contact tracing app for office workers. That measure was later watered down into a request when privacy advocates protested.
However, downloads of the app have increased, with data from market intelligence firm Sensor Tower showing a 13 percent increase in daily downloads on Monday from the previous day to 78,000.
