Apple has announced that it does not intend to comply with the Indian government's order mandating the installation of a state-controlled cybersecurity application on all smartphones sold in the country. According to three sources familiar with the matter, the California-based company is preparing an official response to New Delhi, as the directive has sparked intense political controversy and fueled fears of mass surveillance.
The measure, revealed by Reuters, requires Apple, Samsung, and Xiaomi to pre-install the government-developed Sanchar Saathi app within 90 days. This app allows users to locate stolen phones, block them, and prevent misuse. The government also requires that the app cannot be disabled by users, thus reinforcing concerns about the potential state access to personal data.
For the hundreds of millions of smartphones already in circulation, the directive goes even further: manufacturers will have to deploy the application via a mandatory software update. The Indian Ministry of Telecommunications confirmed this decision, presenting it as a necessary response to a "serious threat" to the country's cybersecurity.
But the opposition to the Modi government and several digital rights advocates denounce the measure as intrusive, potentially granting the government unprecedented access to the 730 million smartphones in use in India. They argue that this requirement is part of a growing trend toward expanding state surveillance capabilities at the expense of the right to privacy. Apple, which regularly emphasizes data protection as a selling point, could become a key player in this technopolitical standoff.
