Govt pulls plug on Sanchar Saathi

AMID CONCERNS OVER PRIVACY RIGHTS, APP DOWNLOADS JUMP 10 TIMES ON TUESDAY, SAY DOT SOURCES

- VINAY KUMAR

The government on Wednesday withdrew the order mandating pre-installation of cyber security app Sanchar Saathi on smartphones by the manufacturers.

The rollback followed two days of protests from Opposition leaders and civil activists over concerns the pre-installation directive violates privacy rights.

The order to manufacturers - including American technology giant Apple, which was reportedly prepping a legal challenge - was withdrawn because the “the number of users who have downloaded the app (over six lakh in 24 hours and 1.4 crore users overall) has been increasing rapidly”. The mandate to pre-install “was meant to accelerate this process”.

The statement also confirmed what Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Tuesday and repeated in Parliament Wednesday - the app can be deleted.

“The government, with an intent to provide access to cybersecurity to all citizens, mandated pre-installation of Sanchar Saathi app on all smartphones. The app is secure and meant to help citizens from bad actors in the cyber world. There is no other function other than protecting users... and they can remove the app...”

Earlier in the day, Scindia told the Lok Sabha, “Snooping is neither possible nor will it happen with the Sanchar Saathi app. And I can delete it like any other app... as every citizen has this right in a democracy. We took this step to make it accessible to all.”