India Orders Mobile Phones Preloaded With Government App To Ensure Cyber Safety (reuters.com)

(Monday December 01, 2025 @11:41AM (msmash) from the how-about-that dept.)

An anonymous reader shares a report:

> India's telecoms ministry has privately asked all smartphone makers to [1]preload all new devices with a state-owned cyber security app , a government order showed, a move set to spark a tussle with Apple, which typically dislikes such directives.

>

> [...] The November 28 order, seen by Reuters, gives major smartphone companies 90 days to ensure that the government's Sanchar Saathi app is pre-installed on new mobile phones, with a provision that users cannot disable it. [...] In the order, the government said the app was essential to combat "serious endangerment" of telecom cyber security from duplicate or spoofed IMEI numbers, which enable scams and network misuse.

[1] https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/india-orders-mobile-phones-preloaded-with-government-app-ensure-cyber-safety-2025-12-01/

Re: (Score:3)

by test321 ( 8891681 )

India is an above-average democracy, though its ranking varies a lot, and a number of commentators have criticised a recent erosion of democracy. Apple has a say, and used it days ago in a slightly different case [1]https://yro.slashdot.org/story... [slashdot.org]

Ranking of India in Democracy indexes:

* The Economist: #41, 7.29/10 [2]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org] (USA #28, 7.85/10)

* V-Dem institute: #105 0.398/1 [3]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org] (USA #19, 0.84/1)

Quick search on keywords "India democracy erosion"

* [4]https://www [journalofdemocracy.org]

[1] https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/11/26/2352256/apple-asks-indian-court-to-block-antitrust-law-allowing-38-billion-fine

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Economist_Democracy_Index

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V-Dem_Democracy_Indices

[4] https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/why-indias-democracy-is-dying/

Re: To Apple -- (Score:2)

by tiananmen tank man ( 979067 )

tim apple has infamously said in the past they follow all local laws where they do business when they removed vpn apps from the app store in China.

If government has access to your device! (Score:3)

by oldgraybeard ( 2939809 )

So does every other criminal that wants to!

Oh hell's no! (Score:4, Interesting)

by thedarb ( 181754 )

Time to root and put a custom rom on your phones over there.

Seriously, I would think this would affect the trustworthiness of contract labour from India. Don't need the government over there scraping up everyone's corporate IP.

How difficult will it be to circumvent? (Score:1)

by Anonymous Coward

I mean, at this point that's all that matters. Complaining about it will accomplish nothing

Blackberry (Score:1)

by flyingfsck ( 986395 )

Gov mandated backdoors killed Blackberry. It wont work this time either.

the sad part is (Score:1)

by ghinckley68 ( 590599 )

Apple has that capability int he OS its self they make a ton of money on stolen phones that get sold to other nations. So dose android. This shit will not end till the end user can kill a device remotely and i mean blow effuses in it to really brick it the screen the digitizer the battery and the broadband processor.

News: 0180248587