The Indian authorities is widening the scope of its anti-theft and cybersecurity initiative to cowl each new and used smartphones, an effort geared toward curbing machine theft and on-line fraud however a transfer that can be elevating contemporary privateness considerations.
As a part of the growth, the Indian telecom ministry is requiring corporations that purchase or commerce used telephones to confirm each machine via a central database of IMEI numbers. This comes along with a latest directive ordering smartphone producers to preinstall the federal government’s Sanchar Saathi app on all new handsets and push it onto present units via a software program replace.
Reuters first reported the information on Monday, which was later confirmed by the ministry in a public assertion.
Launched in 2023, the Sanchar Saathi portal permits customers to dam or hint misplaced and stolen telephones. The system has blocked greater than 4.2 million units and traced 2.6 million extra units, per authorities knowledge. The system expanded earlier this yr with the discharge of a devoted Sanchar Saathi app in January, which the federal government says helped recuperate greater than 700,000 telephones, together with 50,000 in October alone.
The Sanchar Saathi app has since gained broad adoption. The app has been downloaded almost 15 million instances and noticed greater than three million month-to-month energetic customers in November — up greater than 600% from its launch month, in response to advertising intelligence agency Sensor Tower. Net visitors to Sanchar Saathi has additionally surged, with month-to-month distinctive guests rising by greater than 49% year-over-year, per Sensor Tower knowledge shared with information.killnetswitch.
The federal government’s order to pre-install Sanchar Saathi has already drawn important backlash from privateness advocates, civil society teams, and opposition events. Critics argue the transfer expands state visibility into private units with out sufficient safeguards. The Indian authorities, nevertheless, says the mandate is meant to deal with rising instances of cybercrime, corresponding to IMEI duplication, machine cloning, fraud within the second-hand smartphone market, and identification theft scams.
Responding to the controversy, telecom minister Jyotiraditya M. Scindia stated on Tuesday that Sanchar Saathi is “a very voluntary and democratic system” and that customers can delete the app if they don’t want to use it. The directive reviewed by information.killnetswitch — and circulating on social media on Monday — instructs producers to make sure the pre-installed app is “readily seen and accessible to finish customers on the time of first use or machine setup” and that “its functionalities should not disabled or restricted,” elevating questions on whether or not the app is actually non-obligatory in apply.
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Deputy telecom minister Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar stated in media interviews that the majority main producers had been included within the authorities’s working group on the initiative, although Apple didn’t take part.
Alongside pushing the Sanchar Saathi app, the telecom ministry is piloting an software program interface — or API — that will permit recommerce and trade-in platforms to add buyer identities and machine particulars on to the federal government, two individuals accustomed to the matter advised information.killnetswitch. The transfer would mark a major step towards making a nationwide file of smartphones in circulation.
India’s used-smartphone phase is increasing quickly as rising costs of recent units and longer alternative cycles push extra customers towards cheaper alternate options. India turned the world’s third-largest marketplace for second-hand smartphones in 2024.
However as a lot as 85% of the second-hand cellphone sector stays unorganized, that means most transactions happen via casual channels and thru brick-and-mortar shops. The federal government’s transfer covers solely formal recommerce and trade-in platforms, leaving a lot of the broader used-device market exterior the scope of the present measures.
Whereas saying the pre-installation of its app, the Indian authorities stated the transfer would assist allow “straightforward reporting of suspected misuse of telecom assets.” Privateness advocates say that the rising knowledge flows might give authorities unprecedented visibility into machine possession — elevating considerations over how the knowledge may very well be used or misused.
“It’s a troubling transfer to start with,” stated Prateek Waghre, head of applications and partnerships of Toronto-based nonprofit coverage lab, Tech World Institute, advised information.killnetswitch. “You’re basically wanting on the potential for each single machine being ‘databased’ in some kind. After which what makes use of their database will be put to it at a later date, we don’t know.”
The Indian authorities has not but detailed how the collected knowledge might be saved, who may have entry to it, or what safeguards will apply because the system expands. Digital rights teams say the sheer scale of India’s smartphone base — estimated at some 700 million units — means even administrative adjustments can have outsized penalties, doubtlessly setting precedents that different governments might examine or replicate.
“Whereas the intent behind a unified platform could also be safety, mandating a single government-controlled software dangers stifling innovation notably from non-public gamers and startups who’ve traditionally pushed safe, scalable digital options,” stated Meghna Bal, director at New Delhi-based expertise assume tank, Esya Centre.
“If the federal government intends to construct such methods, they should be backed by unbiased audits, sturdy knowledge governance safeguards, and clear accountability measures. In any other case, the mannequin not solely places person privateness at stake, but additionally removes truthful alternative for the ecosystem to contribute and innovate,” stated Bal.
The deliberate API additionally raises considerations for recommerce corporations, which might face legal responsibility if delicate buyer info is mishandled.
The Indian telecom ministry didn’t reply to information.killnetswitch’s request for remark.
Waghre famous that whereas the Sanchar Saathi app is seen on a person’s cellphone, the broader system it connects to operates largely out of sight. The permissions, knowledge flows, and backend adjustments, together with the deliberate API integration, could also be buried in long-term-and-conditions paperwork that most individuals by no means learn, he stated. Because of this, customers might have little sensible understanding of what info is being collected, how it’s shared or the extent of the system’s attain.
“You possibly can’t go about proscribing cybercrimes and machine thefts in such a disproportionate and heavy-handed approach,” stated Waghre.
“The federal government is mainly saying that, look, you must put my app on each machine that’s bought, on each present machine, it’s a must to set up it, and in something that’s being resold as nicely,” he stated.
