Users are free to delete it, if they wish, says Telecom minister Scindia as privacy concern erupts
NEW DELHI, Dec 2: As a government order to manufacturers to preload a state-run cybersecurity app, Sanchar Saathi, on all phones kicked up a privacy row, Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Tuesday appeared to soften the stance, saying users are free to delete it if they so wish, and that it will remain inactive till they register on it.
The November 28 order from his ministry directed smartphone makers to pre-install the app on all new devices and push it through updates on older ones. Many opposition leaders and critics saw it as a snooping attempt, as they felt the app could listen to calls and monitor messages.
Some phone makers, such as Apple, were reportedly opposed to the mandate. Sources said Apple would discuss the issue with the government and work out a middle path, as the order cannot be implemented in its current form.
Scindia stepped in to diffuse the crisis and denied allegations that it was an app for snooping.
“If you want to delete it, then delete it,” Scindia told reporters outside Parliament.
“But not everyone in the country knows that this app exists to protect them from fraud and theft.” While the November 28 order stated that the makers have to ensure that the functionalities of the app are not “disabled or restricted”, it wasn’t immediately clear if the app will be embedded in the operating software or is proposed to be a secondary one.
Tech experts said any app, if embedded in the operating system, cannot be deleted by users. Some secondary apps, while not being visible on the home screen, may continue to run in the background.
Some experts point out that the Sanchar Saathi app, like most other apps, seeks access to call logs, phone camera, notifications, phone dialer app, and SMS.
The move mimics a similar mandate issued by Russia in August, requiring a state-backed messaging app MAX to be pre-installed on all smartphones.
Denying the Opposition’s charges, Scindia asserted that there was no snooping or call monitoring through the app.
“It is our responsibility to make this app reach everyone. If you want to delete it, then delete it. If you don’t want to use it, then don’t register it. If you register it, then it will remain active. If you don’t register it, then it will remain inactive,” he said.
Minister of State for Communications Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani on Tuesday said that Sanchar Saathi app-related matters have been discussed with all mobile phone players in a working group, except Apple, as it did not participate in it.
The minister told PTI that the Sanchar Saathi app is like any other app, which can be activated and deleted by consumers, and it is meant to ease reporting of online fraud and trace lost mobile phones, among others.
An industry source said that Apple will discuss the order on Sanchar Saathi app installation and work out a middle path with the government.
The company may not be able to implement the order in the current form, according to sources.
The government maintains that the app is crucial to counter “serious endangerment” to telecom cybersecurity from duplicate or spoofed IMEI numbers, which enable scams and network misuse.
IMEI or International Mobile Equipment Identity is a 14 to 17-digit number, unique to each handset, which is used to cut off network access for phones reported to have been stolen.
‘SNOOPING APP’, SAYS CONGRESS
The Congress on Tuesday said the government’s directive on the Sanchar Saathi App smacks of dictatorship and infringes on the right to privacy of citizens.
Calling it a “snooping app”, the party demanded its immediate rollback.
The Department of Telecom (DoT) has directed manufacturers and importers of mobile handsets to ensure that its fraud reporting app Sanchar Saathi is pre-installed in all new devices within 90 days.
“The Sanchar Saathi is a snooping app, and clearly it is ridiculous. Citizens have the right to privacy. Everyone must have the right to privacy to send messages to family and friends without the government looking at everything,” Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra told reporters.
She said the government is turning the country into a “dictatorship” and they are refusing to talk about anything and not allowing a discussion on anything and that is why Parliament is not functioning.
“It’s not just snooping on the telephone. They’re turning this country into a dictatorship in every form. Parliament isn’t functioning because the government is refusing to discuss anything. It is very easy to blame the Opposition, but they’re not allowing any discussion on anything, and that’s not democracy,” she said, adding that a healthy democracy demands discussion, and everybody has different views, and you hear them out.
Vadra said there is a very fine line between reporting fraud and seeing what every citizen of India is doing on their phone.
“That’s not how it should work. There should be an effective system to report fraud. We’ve discussed this at great length in terms of cyber security. There’s a need for cyber security, but that doesn’t mean it gives you an excuse to go into every citizen’s phone. I don’t think any citizen would be happy,” the Congress leader said.
Flaying the move, Congress general secretary Randeep Surjewala said, “India has now become a ‘surveillance state’.
“Is it Official Pegasus or akin to REDFLAG App of North Korea on every Cellphone? India is now a ‘Surveillance State’? India will now be a ‘Police State’? Right to Privacy & Personal Space are now officially dead,” Surjeala said in a post on X.Citing the DoT order, he said the Sanchar Saathi App will be pre installed on every phone by manufacturer and importers of mobile phones and for all existing cellphone, Sanchar Saathi App will be pushed through software updates.Once Sanchar Saathi App is installed, its functions can’t be disabled or restricted, the order also says. (PTI)
