Apple’s Reaction To Sanchar Saathi Spark Debate

Even before Union Minister of Communications Jyotiraditya Scindia has taken back the government orders on the mandatory preloading of the Sanchar Saathi safety app on smart phones, Apple made it clear that it has no plans to comply with the orders.

The Apple company, reportedly, has plans to tell the government that it does not follow such mandates anywhere in the world as it would give rise to several privacy and security issues for the company’s iOS ecosystem. Sources in Apple said the company has no plans to approach the court or take a public stand but would tell the government it cannot follow the order due to security issues.

The Indian government has confidentially ordered companies including Apple, Samsung and Xiaomi to preload their phones with Sanchar Saathi, within 90 days. The app aims to track stolen phones, block them and also prevent them from being misused. The government said that the app would also combat serious endangerment of cyber security.

The government also wanted the manufacturers to ensure the app is not disabled. For devices already in the supply chain, the government directed the manufacturers to push the app to phones via software updates. The Indian government said the app would help in tackling incidents of duplicated or spoofed IMEI numbers, which enable cyber criminals to use phones for scams and also misuse the network.

However, with the opposition parties terming Sanchar Saathi as a snooping app, and alleging that the government wants to gain access to India’s 730 million smartphones through the app, Scindia said the app was a voluntary and democratic system, stating that users could choose to activate it and also delete it from their phone at any time. Congress leader KC Venugopal, on X, said: “Big Brother cannot watch us.”

Meanwhile, sources said that smartphone makers including Samsung and Xiaomi would discuss the order with the government and try to find a middle path on the government directive.