NEW DELHI (Kashmir English): Apple seems not complying with a mandate to preload a state-owned cyber safety app in its smartphones and will convey its concerns to New Delhi, foreign media said quoting sources.
The development came after the New Delhi’s move sparked surveillance concerns and a political uproar in the country.
The Indian government has confidentially ordered companies, including Apple, Samsung and Xiaomi, to preload their phones with an app called Sanchar Saathi, or Communication Partner, within 90 days.
App is meant to track stolen phones
The app is meant to track stolen phones, block them and prevent them from being misused with the government seeking manufacturers to ensure that the app is not disabled.
And for devices already in the supply chain, the government wants manufacturers to push the app to phones via software updates.
India’s telecom ministry confirmed the move later, describing it as a security measure to combat “serious endangerment” of cybersecurity.
But PM Modi’s political opponents and privacy advocates criticised the move, describing it a way for the government to gain access to India’s 730 million smartphones.
Apple, however, plans not to comply with the directive and will tell the government it does not follow such mandates anywhere in the world as they raise a host of privacy and security issues for the company’s iOS ecosystem.
Other brands are reviewing the order, the media said quoting an industry source who is familiar with the matter.
