In an unprecedented move, the central government revoked its order to mobile phone manufacturers to install ‘Sanchar Saathi’, a government app, from 2026. The rollback came in 48 hours following widespread concerns raised by most stakeholders about ambiguous data collection methods, the lack of consent, surveillance and unlimited data storage. Reuters broke the story and Apple refused to implement the policy.

These foreign entities may have played some sort of a backstage role as the government cannot afford to lose Apple and its manufacturing in India. Although the government’s move to have the app installed was apparently aimed as a safety measure — cybercrimes increased from 15.9 lakh cases in 2023 to 20.4 lakh in 2024 — to help mobile users and the police, legitimate questions were ra

See Full Page