‘Tool to monitor Indians’: Opposition, experts on order mandating use of state-owned web safety app

Opposition leaders and technology policy experts on Tuesday expressed concern that the Union government’s directive to smartphone manufacturers to mandatorily preload all new devices with a government cyber security app amounted to expanded surveillance without adequate safeguards.

The order was passed by the Department of Telecommunications on Friday.

It directed manufacturers to preload the Sanchar Saathi app in new phones and to add the application to devices that have already been sold through a software update. Users will not be able to disable the app, according to the Ministry of Communications.

However, amid the pushback, Union Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia told ANI on Tuesday that users will be able to delete the app.

The electronics manufacturers were asked to comply with the order within three months.

The Congress said that the directive by the telecom department was “beyond unconstitutional” and demanded that it should be rolled back immediately.

Party leader KC Venugopal said that “Big Brother cannot watch us”, adding that the right to privacy is an intrinsic part of the fundamental right to life and liberty.

“A pre-loaded government app that cannot be uninstalled is a dystopian tool to monitor every Indian,” Venugopal said on social media. “It is a means to watch over every movement, interaction and decision of each citizen.”

The Congress MP said that the directive was part of a series of “relentless...

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