The Department of Telecom said that it is removing the order mandating installation of the Sanchar Saathi app, following a 10-fold jump in voluntary app downloads in just one day
The Sanchar Saathi app will continue to be available on app stores for voluntary downloads. Pic/By Special Arrangement
The government on Wednesday withdrew the order mandating pre-installation of cyber security app Sanchar Saathi on smartphones by manufacturers. The Department of Telecom said that it is removing the order mandating installation of the Sanchar Saathi app, following a 10-fold jump in voluntary app downloads in just one day.
“The number of users has been increasing rapidly, and the mandate to install the app was meant to accelerate this process and make the app available to less aware citizens easily. “Just in the last one day, six lakh citizens have registered for downloading the app, which is a 10x increase in its uptake. Given Sanchar Saathi’s increasing acceptance, Government has decided not to make the pre-installation mandatory for mobile manufacturers,” the DoT said in a statement.
In the November 28 order, the DoT directed smartphone makers to pre-install the app on all new devices and push it through updates on older ones. The order mentioned that the pre-installed app should be “readily visible and accessible” and “functionalities are not disabled or restricted”. Following the uproar, the communications ministry had issued an explainer, clarifying that the phrase “readily visible and accessible” and “functionalities are not disabled or restricted” in order as a direction to manufacturers, not a restriction on users.
“It simply means manufacturers must not hide, cripple or pre-install a non-functional version of the app and later claim compliance. Nowhere it has been mentioned in the above clause that the Sanchar Saathi App cannot be uninstalled by the end user. It is up to the citizen if he wants to enable and register Sanchar Saathi Mobile App or uninstall,” it had said.
The explainer was issued prior to the withdrawal of the order. Main opposition party Congress had charged the BJP-led government of “brazenly snooping” on citizens with the app. “The communications minister confidently claimed that the Sanchar Saathi app can be deleted, a statement that collapses instantly under the weight of the government’s own direction, where Section 7(b) categorically states that the pre-installed app cannot be removed, nor can any of its ‘functionalities be disabled or restricted’,” Congress’ media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said.
The ministry’s explainer said the Sanchar Saathi app has limited access to phone data and that too only to the extent citizens permit it in each “interaction of reporting fraud” through the permissions granted.
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