India’s government is reviewing a telecom industry proposal to force smartphone companies to enable always-on satellite location tracking for better surveillance, a move opposed by Apple, Google and Samsung due to privacy concerns, according to documents, emails and five sources.
A fierce debate over privacy erupted in India this week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government was forced to rescind an order requiring smartphone makers to preload a state-run cybersecurity app on all devices after activists and politicians raised concerns about possible spying.
For years, the Modi administration has been concerned that its agencies are not getting accurate locations when legal requests are made to telecom companies during investigations. Under the current system, companies are limited to using data from cell towers that can only provide an estimated location of the area, which may be several meters off.
The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), which represents Jio and Reliance’s Bharti Airtel, has proposed that users’ precise locations should only be provided if the government directs smartphone makers to activate A-GPS technology, which uses satellite signals and cellular data, according to an internal federal IT Ministry email from June.
That would require location services to always be on on smartphones, with no option for users to disable them. Apple, Samsung and Alphabet’s Google have told New Delhi that it should not be mandatory, said three of the sources with direct knowledge of the deliberations.
A move to track location at the device level is unprecedented anywhere else in the world, lobbying group India Cellular & Electronics Association (ICEA), which represents both Apple and Google, wrote in a confidential letter to the government in July, which was seen by Reuters.
“A-GPS network service is not implemented or supported for location surveillance,” the letter said, adding that the move “would be a regulatory overreach.”
India’s Home Ministry had scheduled a meeting of senior smartphone industry executives to discuss the matter on Friday, but it was postponed, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said. On Thursday, Reuters sent questions related to this topic to the ministry.
India’s IT and home ministries, which are considering the telecom industry’s proposal, did not respond to Reuters queries.
Apple, Samsung, Google, Reliance and Airtel did not respond to requests for comment. Pressure groups ICEA and COAI also did not respond.
So far, no policy decisions have been taken by the IT or Home ministries.
Leveraging A-GPS technology, which typically only activates when certain apps are running or when emergency calls are made, could provide authorities with location data precise enough to be able to track a user to within about one meter, according to technology experts.
“This proposal would make phones function as a dedicated surveillance device,” said Junade Ali, a digital forensics expert associated with Britain’s Institution of Engineering and Technology.
Cooper Quintin, a security researcher at the US-based Electronic Frontier Foundation, said he had not heard of any such proposal anywhere else, calling it “pretty horrible”.
Governments around the world routinely look for new ways to better track the movements or data of cell phone users. Russia has ordered the installation of a state-backed communications application on all mobile phones in the country.
India is the world’s second-largest mobile market with 735 million smartphones by mid-2025, with Google’s Android powering more than 95 percent of devices, and the rest using Apple’s iOS, says Counterpoint Research.
Apple and Google lobby group ICEA argued in its July letter that there are significant “legal, privacy and national security concerns” with the telecom group’s proposal.
It warned that its user base would include members of the military, judges, corporate executives and journalists, adding that the proposed location tracking put their security at risk as they contain sensitive information.
Even the old form of location tracking is becoming problematic, the telecoms group said, as smartphone makers show a pop-up message to users, alerting them that their “operator is trying to access your location.”
“A target can easily determine that it is being tracked by security agencies,” the telecoms group said, urging the government to order phone makers to disable pop-up features.
Privacy concerns should take priority and India should also not consider disabling pop-ups, Apple and the Google group argued in their July letter to the government.
