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The big story

It all started this Monday.

The Indian government asked phone manufacturers to preload a state-run cybersecurity app with no option to disable it, mandating them to push it via software updates on handsets.

On Tuesday, there was backlash on social media and pressure from internet freedom activists, with the country's chief opposition political party labelling the application a "snooping app."

On Wednesday, the government rolled back the mandate for the Sanchar Saathi app, while defending it as a "citizen-centric tool that brings robust security features and fraud-reporting capabi

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