#IndiaCyberSafety #SancharSaathi #MobileSecurity
India mandates all new smartphones be preloaded with the state-owned cybersecurity app “Sanchar Saathi” — and it cannot be uninstalled! 📱🔒
Reported Dec 1, 2025, India’s Department of Telecommunications quietly ordered smartphone makers like Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo to install this app on all new devices sold in India within 90 days. Existing phones must also receive the app via software updates.
Key highlights:
⦁ Sanchar Saathi helps combat scams, cybercrime, and counterfeit or stolen devices by verifying and blocking fake or duplicate IMEI numbers.
⦁ The app has aided recovery of over 700,000 lost phones since launch in January 2025, with 50,000 recoveries just in October.
⦁ Users cannot uninstall or disable the app, raising privacy and user control concerns, especially with Apple’s usual resistance to pre-installing government apps.
⦁ The directive was taken without prior consultation with manufacturers, signaling regulatory pressure in India’s huge 1.2 billion mobile user market.
Read More: India orders mobile phones preloaded with government app to ensure cyber safety
Would this mandate change how you choose smartphones? 🤔
India mandates all new smartphones be preloaded with the state-owned cybersecurity app “Sanchar Saathi” — and it cannot be uninstalled! 📱🔒
Reported Dec 1, 2025, India’s Department of Telecommunications quietly ordered smartphone makers like Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo to install this app on all new devices sold in India within 90 days. Existing phones must also receive the app via software updates.
Key highlights:
⦁ Sanchar Saathi helps combat scams, cybercrime, and counterfeit or stolen devices by verifying and blocking fake or duplicate IMEI numbers.
⦁ The app has aided recovery of over 700,000 lost phones since launch in January 2025, with 50,000 recoveries just in October.
⦁ Users cannot uninstall or disable the app, raising privacy and user control concerns, especially with Apple’s usual resistance to pre-installing government apps.
⦁ The directive was taken without prior consultation with manufacturers, signaling regulatory pressure in India’s huge 1.2 billion mobile user market.
Read More: India orders mobile phones preloaded with government app to ensure cyber safety
Would this mandate change how you choose smartphones? 🤔
Reuters
India orders smartphone makers to preload state-owned cyber safety app
India's telecoms ministry has privately asked smartphone makers to preload all new devices with a state-owned cyber security app that cannot be deleted, a government order showed, a move likely to antagonise Apple and privacy advocates.
