The government has announced that it will no longer require mobile manufacturers to pre-install the Sanchar Saathi on all new smartphones. The decision comes hours after union telecom minister Jyotiraditya Scindia addressed the Lok Sabha, clarifying that “Snooping is neither possible, nor will it ever be”. The clarification came after a directive asking smartphone makers to pre-install the app on new phones that will be sold in the country sparked concerns around privacy and potential surveillance.
What the government said on pre-installation of Sanchar Sathi app
The Government with an intent to provide access to cyber security to all citizens had mandated pre-installation of Sanchar Saathi app on all smartphones. The app is secure and purely meant to help citizens from bad actors in the cyber world.
It helps in ” Jan bhagidari” by all citizens in reporting on such bad actors and actions while protecting users themselves. There is no other function other than protecting the users in the app and they can remove the app whenever they want. This has been clarified by Government.So far 1.4 crore users have downloaded this app and are contributing to information on 2000 fraud incidents per 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 last one day, 6 lakh citizens have registered for downloading the App which is a 10x increase in its uptake. This is affirmation of faith by citizens on this App for protecting themselves provided to them by the Government.Given Sanchar Saathi’s increasing acceptance, Government has decided not to make the pre- installation mandatory for mobile manufacturers.Developing story…
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