- India has mandated that the government app must be pre-installed on all smartphones
- The move sparked backlash over privacy concerns.
- The government says it’s a way to stop cybercrime and hacking
UPDATE: December 3, 2025 The Government of India has announced this. that pre-installation of Sanchar Saathi application will not be mandatory for mobile phone manufacturers. We’ve made some changes to the copy to reflect this.
On November 28, 2025, India’s Ministry of Telecommunications issued an order requiring smartphone vendors to install a government security application. A decision that has given rise to harsh criticism of data protection.
The politics that came first Reuters reportsforced smartphone makers to pre-install all new devices with the Sanchar Saathi app, while existing phones had to download the app via a software update. Most importantly, users cannot uninstall the software from their phones.
The Indian government said the move is aimed at combating the recent wave of cybercrime and hacking incidents. But while Apple, Google, Samsung and other phone makers initially remained silent, digital rights groups quickly criticized the order, saying they were “deeply concerned” by the requirement, which they said could jeopardize people’s rights.
Although the full text of the order is not yet available, the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) says the order represents a “sharp and deeply troubling” expansion of executive control over citizens’ digital devices.
“Today, the app can present itself as a harmless IMEI checker. Tomorrow, a server-side update could reuse it for client-side searches for ‘banned’ apps, reporting VPN usage, correlating SIM card activity, or searching SMS logs in the name of fraud detection,” the civil society organization wrote in a blog post. I’ll let you know.
Then, on December 2, three Apple sources he told Reuters that the Company does not intend to execute any such order either in India or anywhere in the world.
The data protection slump seems to have reached its optimum point and on December 3rd The Government of India has announced this. that pre-installation of Sanchar Saathi application will not be mandatory for mobile phone manufacturers.
The IFF welcomes this development, but urges caution. “We are still awaiting the full text of the legal framework that will accompany this announcement, including revised instructions under the Cybersecurity Rules 2024,” the experts said. he continued to write.
We’ve reached out to Apple and Google for comment and will update the page if we hear back.
What is the Sanchar Saathi app and why can it compromise privacy?
Indian technology publication MediaNama reported that the Sanchar Saathi app is an initiative of India’s Ministry of Telecommunications to help users protect their devices from malicious activities such as online fraud, theft and other crimes.
Citizens can use the app to report fraud in real time, allowing authorities to monitor and respond to cybercrime more effectively.
While the app may be useful, experts criticize its disregard for user choices. As the IFF puts it, “This turns every smartphone sold in India into a repository of government-mandated software that cannot be disabled, controlled or deleted by the user.”
IFF Statement on Sanchar Saathi App Pre-installation Policy The Department of Telecommunications (DoT), particularly the AI and Digital Intelligence Unit (AI&DIU), has issued a…December 2, 2025
The IFF’s comments echo the concerns of technology lawyer Mishi Choudhary, who told Reuters: “The government is essentially removing user consent as a meaningful option.”
But the concern goes beyond user choice. There is a real risk that current or future governments will expand the app’s reach and turn it into a surveillance tool, compromising the privacy of even those using one of the best VPN services.
As IFF says, “nothing in the sequence limits these possibilities.”
The IFF has already filed a complaint with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India and says it will continue to fight “until the complaint is withdrawn”.
It now remains to be seen whether Google and Samsung will follow Apple’s lead in challenging the order and put further pressure on the Indian government to formally implement the recall legally.