There’s been a lot of debate and outcry in India recently about the central government’s directive that requires smartphone makers to pre-load its cybersecurity app Sanchar Sati on all new devices, and just when we thought the dust had settled since the government rolled back the mandate, now we’re seeing a new report that could spark yet another debate in the country amid security and privacy concerns.
According to Reutersthe Indian government is considering a proposal by the telecom industry to require smartphone companies to keep satellite location tracking enabled at all times for better tracking.
The report says that the Indian government has, for years, been concerned about its agencies when making legal requests to telecom operators during investigations, and that’s because telecom firms are limited to using cellular tower data, which can be several meters away because it can only provide an approximate area.
Therefore, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), which represents Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, proposed that the government mandate smartphone makers to enable A-GPs, which use satellite signals and cellular data. This would require satellite tracking to be enabled on smartphones at all times, with no option for users to disable it.
Apple, Samsung, and Google opposed the proposal and told the government that satellite tracking should not always be mandatory, with the lobbying group India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA), representing Apple and Google, saying “in a confidential letter to the Indian government in July,” a measure to track a device’s surface location is not available anywhere else in the world. “
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ICEA also argued in its letter that there were significant “legal, privacy and national security concerns” with the telecoms group’s proposal, and that a mandate for A-GPs to always track precise location would “exceed a regulatory threshold.”
That said, the telecom group not only proposed A-GPS activation, but it also faces problems with older methods of location tracking, as smartphone companies display a pop-up message to alert users when a network carrier is trying to access their location.
The telecom group argued that “a target can easily find out that he is being tracked by security agencies,” and urged the government to order smartphone manufacturers to disable pop-up features.
On the issue, ICEA argued in a letter to the Indian government that “privacy concerns should take precedence and India should not even consider disabling pop-ups.”
Reuters It is claimed that India’s home ministry had scheduled a meeting of top smartphone industry executives to discuss the matter on Friday, but it was postponed.
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