India backs down on requiring smartphone makers to preinstall state-run app
- I
- Idkxx
- gN%
- 03 Dec 2025
PomPomLover, 03 Dec 2025Here's the app permissions screenshot (immediately aft... moreIf it was really for people's good then why force it
- I
- Idkxx
- gN%
- 03 Dec 2025
Anonymous, 03 Dec 2025Apple FTW with steel ball rejecting it. While Android phone... moreFr but i am sure apple has a price too. The gov didnt try hard enough. Look at china
- ?
- Anonymous
- y26
- 03 Dec 2025
[deleted post]It's alright that you are just guessing that this app will breach your privacy. But you could make that assumption with ANY app on your phone. Especially without evidence.
But my original reply was to someone saying that this definitively breaches user privacy and it will lose in court. Which is why I asked for some evidence to support it.
- f
- fren
- 2xy
- 03 Dec 2025
as someone coming from a region that is a hotbed for scam and scammers I believe every move by government to thwart scams is a good thing.
- P
- PomPomLover
- 7k4
- 03 Dec 2025
Here's the app permissions screenshot (immediately after log in):
https://ibb.co/bg06Ksmp
The app doesn't even have location permissions currently. It needs Phone and SMS to register the user. They could've preloaded and allowed it to be uninstalled. The manufacturers preload all kinds of bloat anyway - but this app was never meant to be a spying app. The app is intended to help against digital scams, which are ever increasing in India. Like having a phone number on your name, that you never knew of; especially for older people. The lost phone tracking is an entirely optional and voluntary feature that requires filling a big form including IMEI, invoice of purchase etc.
Nothing says kids and teenagers like digital fearmongering. Oh, and news media for the clicks they'll get. Easy for people outside of India, especially westerners to frame this as a "spying diktat". Our government has way more issues than this thing - which was arguably done with good intentions.
- ?
- Anonymous
- 5US
- 03 Dec 2025
Like with every controversial idea, they come back with it under a different name when the storm lays down.
It always happens time and time again.
- ?
- Anonymous
- YUU
- 03 Dec 2025
Apple FTW with steel ball rejecting it. While Android phone manufacturer, well... "Ball-less" 🙄
- D
- AnonD-1213931
- fwW
- 03 Dec 2025
The app aims to report you, track your phone, block you, prevent you from traveling, and arrest you for fighting against the oppressive government, that's The truth so be smart and don't use it.
- H
- Hugo
- XUi
- 03 Dec 2025
Thank god. The Indian government is just not trustworthy. Most of their voters are or were innocent unsuspecting people who fell for their mass publicity campaign through their lapdog media and whatsapp university.
- ?
- Anonymous
- XTM
- 03 Dec 2025
Anonymous, 03 Dec 2025How is this app a breach of personal privacy, exactly? I�... moreI honestly don't trust the government with my data - especially after everything we've seen in the past few years. So when they try to push an app onto every phone in the country, my first reaction is: why do they want so much access to my device?
Mandatory installation = no consent. Privacy doesn't work like "take it or leave it." If it's truly for our benefit, people will install it themselves. Forcing it shows something isn't right.
The app asks for way too many permissions. Call logs, SMS access, device info… why does a "fraud help" app need all that? Once that door is open, they can collect whatever they want.
This government has a history of intruding into people's privacy:
They collected massive amounts of biometric data through Aadhaar and tried making it mandatory for SIMs, bank accounts, everything.
The Pegasus spyware scandal - phones of journalists, activists, and opposition leaders were reportedly targeted.
Repeated internet shutdowns - more than any other democracy - basically controlling what people can see or say.
Constant pressure on social media companies to share data or take down posts.
Using UPI, PAN, Aadhaar linking to track financial trails of ordinary people while big scams go untouched.
The BJP government has a pattern: wrap surveillance in the name of "security," "safety," or "anti-fraud," and then slowly expand how much they monitor. It's always the same formula.
Function creep is real. They start with "we just need this for lost phones," and a few updates later it could be used to monitor calls, track devices, or collect behavioral data. We've seen this story too many times.
The right to privacy isn't just a fancy legal term. The Supreme Court literally had to step in back in 2017 because the government was getting too comfortable grabbing people's data without limits.
A government that truly respects privacy doesn't force itself onto your phone. If the intention was clean, they would have made the app optional from day one.
Bottom line: I don't trust the government with my digital life. Especially not one that has already crossed lines before. Sanchar Saathi might look harmless now, but that's exactly how surveillance begins - quietly, and "for your own good".
- ?
- Anonymous
- Xqa
- 03 Dec 2025
Tbh, the end-goal for this app is pretty much good for phone owner, but still, by forcing to install it, it make the app reputation goes down since phone owner suspect of their activities will get tracked down. It just matter on how the app get delivered, in this case, it goes down so bad.
- ?
- Anonymous
- y26
- 03 Dec 2025
S I R E, 03 Dec 2025Same way other known (I will not take names as it can flag ... moreOkay, so you have no evidence other than "china does it" and we cannot trust the Indian government. Gotcha.
- S I R E
- X@K
- 03 Dec 2025
Anonymous, 03 Dec 2025How is this app a breach of personal privacy, exactly? I�... moreSame way other known (I will not take names as it can flag my comment) apps track user activities, personal data and more.
A certain infamous Asian country comes to mind.
These are micro steps any malicious organisation takes to push away freedom. They take away liberties at a pace people don't notice or instantly react to and it compounds over time and before you know it, your device becomes a 24/7 unethical policing device.
If you don't know about the many and I do mean many political scandals in India, read up yourself. We are not allowed to make political comments here.
- ?
- Anonymous
- y26
- 03 Dec 2025
Zuzuz, 03 Dec 2025Only 2 neurons? Not capable of answering?
- Z
- Zuzuz
- ajW
- 03 Dec 2025
Anonymous, 03 Dec 2025How is this app a breach of personal privacy, exactly? I�... moreOnly 2 neurons?
- Z
- Zuzuz
- ajW
- 03 Dec 2025
Anonymous, 03 Dec 2025Dont Go Full North KoreaOr the USA with their backdoors
- g
- gokuandroid
- rJ@
- 03 Dec 2025
I think it was a good initiative by the Indian government to report fraud and block phone when lost. Anyway, we can uninstall it if we don't like it. I think government should add more features to report terror activities and police numbers near the phone locations using GPS etc...
- ?
- Anonymous
- Cby
- 03 Dec 2025
People bashing a country without even knowing a thing about it or the app in question is weird! Sure, this was a wrong move by the government and, thankfully, they backed down, but that does not mean that this service is a spyware or a breach of privacy. Go read about it, then come back here and comment! Also, people calling us an autocratic nation - if this was an autocracy, this move would not have been taken back. But most people only like to criticise nowadays, so nothing better can be expected from them anayway.
- ?
- Anonymous
- y26
- 03 Dec 2025
Anonymous, 03 Dec 2025In India, the right to privacy is a fundamental right, so t... moreHow is this app a breach of personal privacy, exactly? I'm not following your logic.