A U-turn in the age of snooping apps

Breach of cybersecurity-carried out in multiple ways and forms-has been a reality for more than two decades in India and no solution has been good enough so far.

- NIVEDITA MOOKERJI

Even the latest government diktat to handset makers, asking them to install or rather pre-install Sanchar Saathi, which is an app meant to combat fraud, on smartphones will remain just an idea. In less than a week of the Department of Telecommunications (DOT) order being sent to handset makers, including Apple and Samsung, and after much noise in Parliament and TV studios, the mandate has been withdrawn.

While the storm has blown over, for now, the issue will continue to be debated for many reasons. First, handset makers, especially the likes of Apple, were not expected to comply with such a diktat as it would have meant an overhaul of their global algorithm. Apple, known for its stand on such issues, would have stood its ground against such a directive. That may have been quite an aberration at a time when the American major and its global vent dors are scripting an upbeat manufacturing story for India.