‘Snooping with state-run app neither possible, nor will it happen’
New Delhi: The government on Wednesday withdrew its directive requiring smartphone makers to pre-install a state-run cybersecurity application on all new devices, as it moved to quell rising concerns that the measure could have compromised user privacy or enabled surveillance.
The Sanchar Saathi app, which the government says only helps track and block stolen phones and prevents them from being misused, will, however, continue to be available on app stores for voluntary downloads.
“The government has decided not to make the pre-installation mandatory for mobile manufacturers,” the communications ministry said in a press statement.
The move follows protests from Opposition parties and privacy advocates who felt the app could listen to calls as well as read messages. Some manufacturers such as Apple and Samsung were said to have voiced reservations over the November 28 order.
“The number of users has been increasing rapidly, and the mandate to install the app was meant to accelerate this process and make the app available to less aware citizens easily. Just in the last one day, 6 lakh citizens have registered for downloading the app, which is a 10x increase in its uptake,” the ministry said in the statement.
Globally, hardly any country has mandated pre-loading of a cybersecurity app on all smartphones. The only reported exception is Russia which in August ordered that MAX – a state-backed messaging service viewed by critics as a potential surveillance tool – be installed by default on all phones and tablets.
Defending its own app, the government said it was “secure and purely meant to help citizens from bad actors in the cyber world.”
The ministry added that the measure was no longer necessary as the app was gaining “wide user acceptance” on its own.
Earlier in the day, Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia indicated that the government was willing to make changes in the November 28 order but insisted that the snooping is neither possible nor will it happen with the app.
Sanchar Saathi app “se na snooping sambhav hai, no snooping hoga”, he said in response to Congress leader Deepender Singh Hooda’s supplementary question in the Lok Sabha regarding snooping concerns related to the app.
Scindia had on Tuesday stated that users could delete the app, which becomes operational only when a user registers on it.
If a consumer has not been registered on the app, then the app will not be operational and one can also delete the app, he repeated in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
There have been around 1.5 crore app downloads already. With the portal and the app, 26 lakh stolen handsets have been traced, 7 lakh stolen handsets have been returned to consumers, 41 lakh mobile connections have been disconnected and 6 lakh frauds have been blocked, the minister said.
Amid the Sanchar Saathi application row, the Congress on Wednesday accused the BJP-led government of “brazenly snooping” on citizens and giving a deceptive clarification when caught “red-handed”.
The Opposition party categorically rejected what it claimed was “authoritarian overreach”.
Congress’ media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said the BJP government has been “brazenly snooping” on citizens, but when caught “red-handed” this time, it attempted to mislead the entire nation with a “false and deceptive” clarification.
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray claimed the Sanchar Saathi app is another version of Pegasus spyware, and accused the BJP-led government of trying to spy on the people who voted it to power.
Instead of putting people under surveillance, the government must focus on how the Pahalgam attack took place in April this year, which claimed 26 lives, and how terrorists entered India, the former Maharashtra chief minister said.
