Facing the Outcry, the Indian Government Withdraws Its Cybersecurity Software Mandate for Phones

The Indian government has decided to withdraw its mandate to install a controlled cybersecurity application on all new mobile phones, which was accused of violating user privacy.

On Monday, the Ministry of Communications announced a ninety-day deadline for all mobile phone manufacturers selling in India to implement this device, aimed at preventing fraudulent use.

This measure immediately sparked outrage from opposition parties and numerous NGOs, who condemned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government for attempting to surveil the population.

The government eventually announced in a statement that it had decided "not to make the installation mandatory."

During a heated debate in Parliament on Wednesday, Minister Jyotiraditya M. Scindia initially assured that the application could be deactivated.

"I can delete it like any other application, as every citizen has the right to do in a democracy," he argued before the members of parliament.

Named "Sanchar Saathi" ("communication partner" in Hindi), this device was meant to help users block and track their phones in case of theft or loss and to identify any suspicious use.

According to the government, it has already proven successful in detecting 2.6 million devices.

This application is "safe and solely intended to assist citizens against malicious web actors," it reiterated, failing to convince the opposition.

"Even if the application is deactivated, users will not know if all its features are also disabled," countered MP Deepender Singh.

"This measure could turn every phone into a weapon that the government could use against journalists, political opponents, and any dissenting voices, should it choose to do so," added his colleague Randeep Singh Surjewala.

"It is nothing but a blatant intrusion into our devices," summarized internet freedom advocate Nikhil Pahwa for AFP.

Regularly accused of authoritarian tendencies, Modi's government has been charged in recent years with targeting journalists and opponents with the Pegasus spyware, which it has consistently denied.

The most populous country on the planet—nearly 1.5 billion inhabitants—is also one of its leading users of mobile phones. In 2024, authorities officially recorded 1.16 billion users.

In August, Russia mandated smartphone manufacturers to install the local messaging app Max, criticized as a potential surveillance tool by lawyers and freedom advocacy NGOs.