Scindia says Sanchar Saathi app optional amidst growing privacy concerns

Union IT Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia clarified that the Sanchar Saathi app is optional and can be deleted amid rising privacy concerns. The Centre’s pre-installation order has drawn criticism, even as the government says the move aims to curb cyber fraud

New Delhi: Sanchar Saathi mobile app is not mandatory and can be deleted, said Union Minister for Communications Jyotiraditya Scindia on Tuesday, amid the privacy row. Speaking to the media, Scindia noted that keeping the app is up to individuals, and it can be deleted from smartphones.

“If you don’t want Sanchar Saathi, you can delete it. It is optional… It is our duty to introduce this app to everyone. Keeping it in their devices or not is up to the user,” the Union Minister said.

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He also added that the “platform does not enable snooping or call monitoring”. The clarification comes as the Centre’s move to pre-install the Sanchar Saathi mobile application on all new mobile handsets manufactured or imported for use in India was seen as a breach of privacy.

Criticising the move, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra called it a “violation of privacy and a step toward authoritarian governance”. The government maintained that it aims to safeguard the citizens from buying non-genuine items.

As per the guidelines, issued on November 28, mobile manufacturers and importers have to ensure that the pre-installed Sanchar Saathi application is readily visible and accessible to the end users at the time of first use or device setup and that its functionalities are not disabled or restricted.

Additionally, all such devices that have already been manufactured and are in sales channels in India, the manufacturer and importers of mobile handsets shall endeavour to push the app through software updates.

The companies have to complete the implementation in 90 days and submit a report in 120 days. DoT is undertaking the Sanchar Saathi initiative for curbing the misuse of telecom resources for cyber fraud and ensuring telecom cybersecurity.

In a separate statement, the DoT said that it has observed that some of the app-based communication services that are utilising Indian mobile numbers for identification of their customers or users or for provisioning or delivery of services, allow users to consume their services without the availability of the underlying Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) within the device in which the app-based services are running.

This feature is being misused to commit cyber-frauds, especially from operating outside the country. The issue of SIM binding in messaging apps and its misuse has been raised by multiple government bodies/agencies and an inter-ministerial group.