 "Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia dismissed allegations of privacy breaches and snooping linked to the Sanchar Saathi app. (ANI)")
Indian Union Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Wednesday sought to ease rising privacy worries surrounding the government’s Sanchar Saathi cybersecurity app, telling Parliament that the platform does not compromise user data and cannot be used to track citizens. His comments came amid political backlash of the directive instructing smartphone manufacturers to pre-install the app on all new and existing devices.
Scindia told the Lok Sabha that the Centre was ready to make changes to the order in response to public feedback. He stressed that allegations suggesting snooping through the app were unfounded and that claims the app could not be uninstalled were incorrect.
Scindia rejects snooping claims
The backlash stems from a November 28 order mandating all mobile phone manufacturers to preload the state-run app on every handset sold in India. The directive also instructed companies to push the app to existing phones through software updates and ensure it is visible and accessible to users when they first activate their devices.
During Question Hour, he firmly dismissed the allegations. “Sanchar Saathi app se na snooping sambhav hai, na snooping hoga” (snooping is neither possible through the Sanchar Saathi app, nor will it ever happen), he said, stressing that the tool is meant solely for citizen safety.
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View AllHe added that the government’s aim is to empower users rather than intrude on their privacy, stating that the objective is to place protective capability “in the hands of the people”.