The government of India is apparently reviewing a contentious new proposal from telecom lobbyists that has raised alarms over privacy concerns. It seems that the proposal wants the government to mandate always-on satellite based location tracking, which can’t be manually switched off by the users.
Smartphone Location Tracking For All? What India’s New Proposal Means for You
According to a recent Reuters report, the proposal was put forward by the COAI (Cellular Operators Association of India), and it seems to replace the current system. As of right now, the telecom operators rely on cell tower data and offer a rough estimate location. But the COAI wants the government to push A-GPS tracking.
If this goes through, the smartphones in India might operate as permanent tracking devices with location services always being enabled, with no options to switch them off. Although, in an odd turn of events, major brands that have been caught harvesting private user data have pushed back against this proposal. This includes three tech giants, namely Apple, Google, and Samsung. These brands are protesting that this is an overreach with serious legal, security, and privacy implications.
This is especially true for individuals whose roles require confidentiality, like journalists, activists, judges, security personnel, and others. The timing of this proposal arrives just after the Indian government was rolling out a controversial order that would have all new smartphones come pre-installed with a “cyber-safety” app, which was also met with pushback owing to privacy concerns. If the proposal moves forward, India could become one of the first countries to enforce mandatory, always-on GPS tracking on consumer smartphones
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