Users free to delete Sanchar Saathi if they want: Telecom minister Scindia

THe unification government minister for communication theory Jyotiraditya Scindia clarified on tues that the Sanchar Saathi applications programme can be deleted by a user from their phone. HT had reported the same on Monday.“This is a completely voluntary and democratic system—users may choose to activate the app and avail its benefits, or if they do not wish to, they can easily delete it from their phone at any time,” clarified Scindia on X, adding that the app is meant to help users protect their privacy and stay safe from online fraud.The Sanchar Saathi portal, launched by the government in May 2023, helps citizens check mobile connections linked to their IDs, report fraudulent numbers, and trace lost or stolen phones, as per its website. The mobile app was launched earlier this year.Opposition calls it a ‘snooping’ appAs the uproar unfolded on the second day of the winter session of Parliament, opposition parties criticised the cybersecurity app and called it a “snooping” mechanism.Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge criticised the move on X, calling the Sanchar Saathi mandate “yet another addition to the long list of attempts by the BJP to strangulate the voice of the people.”Kharge said the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government’s decision to preload the app without wider consultation “is akin to dictatorship”.Also Read: Sanchar Saathi app: What is Centre’s directive, what Opposition said and Centre’s clarification“Why does the Govt want to know what citizens talk with their family and friends?”, he said.Echoing similar sentiments, Congress general secretary and MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said, “There’s a very fine line between reporting fraud and seeing what every citizen of India is doing on their phone… There’s a need for cybersecurity, but that doesn’t mean it gives you an excuse to go into every citizen’s phone. I don’t think any citizen would be happy.”The main point of contention is part of a sentence in the directive, issued November 28, under clause 7(b) which says that the app’s “functionalities are not disabled or restricted.”A DoT official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told HT that this clause is aimed at manufacturers, ensuring they don’t preload the app in a way that renders it unusable or hidden.“It simply means they shouldn’t later claim they installed it as required but that its features don’t work or aren’t visible to users,” the official clarified.A clarification from the DoT on clause 7(b) is expected soon.Privacy concerns However, privacy rights activists and tech policy think tanks have raised concerns.Digital rights advocacy organisation Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF), raising objections to clause 7(b), said in a statement, “In plain terms, this converts every smartphone sold in India into a vessel for state mandated software that the user cannot meaningfully refuse, control, or remove. For this to work in practice, the app will almost certainly need system level or root level access, similar to carrier or OEM system apps, so that it cannot be disabled. That design choice erodes the protections that normally prevent one app from peering into the data of others, and turns Sanchar Saathi into a permanent, non-consensual point of access sitting inside the operating system of every Indian smartphone user.”IFF co-founder Apar Gupta told HT, “After the Supreme Court’s judgement in KS Puttaswamy, the right to privacy includes decisional autonomy and control over personal data and devices. A non removable, system level government app is a continuous, always on interference with that autonomy.”Tech policy experts warn that a mandatory government app raises both security and competition concerns, with Meghna Bal, Director at the tech policy think tank Esya Centre, saying, “If there is any vulnerability in this app, it puts hundreds of millions of people at risk. The security of govt apps has been called into question several times recently, with concerns about a high risk of data breaches.”According to the government, the portal has been used by more than 20 crore people, and over 1.5 crore users are connected to the app. Citizen reports have led to the disconnection of 1.43 crore numbers through the ‘Not My Number’ feature and another 40.96 lakh fraudulent connections.The platform has also helped trace 26 lakh lost or stolen phones, returning 7.23 lakh of them to their owners, and enabled the blocking of 6.2 lakh fraud-linked IMEIs.