US tech giant Apple has said it does not plan to comply with a controversial Indian order requiring companies to preload a state-run cyber safety app amid increasing concern the app could become a snooping tool in the world’s most populous nation.
India’s telecoms ministry privately requested smartphone makers to preload the app, called ‘Sanchar Saathi,’ on all new devices, in an order dated November 28.
That order, shared later by journalists and activists on social media platforms, showed that the Modi government had given smartphone companies 90 days to ensure that the app is pre-installed on new mobile phones.
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The government also wanted phone manufacturers and importers to ensure that the app could not be removed or disabled.
For devices already in the supply chain, it directed manufacturers to push the app to phones via software updates.
India’s telecom ministry confirmed the move later, describing it as a security measure to combat “serious endangerment” of cybersecurity. The app is intended to track stolen phones, block them and prevent them from being misused.
Sources have said the government moved forward with the order without consulting the industry.
The move has sparked widespread concerns on state surveillance, with critics, privacy advocates and the Modi government’s political opponents saying the app is a way for the regime to gain access to India’s 730 million smartphones.
In the wake of that criticism, India’s telecom minister Jyotiraditya M Scindia said on Tuesday the app was a “voluntary and democratic system,” adding that users can choose to activate it and can “easily delete it from their phone at any time.”
At present, the app can be deleted by users. Scindia did not comment on or clarify the November 28 confidential directive that ordered smartphone makers to start preloading it and ensure “its functionalities are not disabled or restricted.”
Government of India directs manufacturer and importers of mobile handsets to ensure that Sanchar Saathi mobile app is pre-installed on all mobile handsets manufactured or imported for use in #India pic.twitter.com/XsrEGC0Crp
— Vijay Kumar S (@vijaythehindu) December 1, 2025
Apple ‘won’t comply’
Smartphone-makers such as Apple, Samsung, Vivo, Oppo and Xiaomi are among companies bound by the new order.
But Apple, which has previously locked horns with the telecoms regulator over development of a government anti-spam mobile app, does not plan to comply with the directive.
The iPhone-maker will tell the government it does not follow such mandates anywhere in the world, as they raise a host of privacy and security issues for the company’s iOS ecosystem, industry sources familiar with Apple’s concerns told Reuters.
“It’s not only like taking a sledgehammer. This is like a double-barrel gun,” one source said.
While Apple tightly controls its App Store and proprietary iOS software – which are crucial to its $100-billion-per-year services business – Google’s Android is open-sourced, allowing manufacturers like Samsung and Xiaomi greater leeway to modify their software.
One source said Apple does not plan to go to court or take a public stand, but will tell the government it cannot follow the order because of security vulnerabilities.
Apple “can’t do this. Period,” the person said.
The app order comes as Apple is locked in a court fight with an Indian watchdog over the nation’s antitrust penalty law. Apple has said it risks facing a fine of up to $38 billion in the case.
Industry insiders say Apple, which has “historically refused such requests from governments” will likely seek to find some “middle ground with the government.
“Instead of a mandatory pre-install, they might negotiate and ask for an option to nudge users towards installing the app,” Tarun Pathak, a research director at Counterpoint told Reuters.
Other brands, including Samsung, are reviewing the order, according to a fourth industry source who is familiar with the matter. Samsung did not respond to Reuters’ queries.
‘Big Brother cannot watch us’
The order caused a furore both inside and outside Parliament on Tuesday, with a number of lawmakers accusing the government of introducing an app that would act as a snooping tool. Rahul Gandhi, of India’s main opposition Congress Party, said he planned to speak about the app in Parliament.
The Congress Party has called for a rollback of the mandate. On X, KC Venugopal, a top Congress leader, said: “Big Brother cannot watch us.”
Sanchar Saathi — Hindi for ‘Communication Partner’ — is billed as a citizen-centric safety tool on popular app stores.
It allows users to block and track lost or stolen mobile phones using the device’s International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI), which is a unique code for each handset.
It also enables users to check how many mobile connections are registered under their name, helping to identify and disconnect fraudulent numbers used in scams.
Additional features include tools to report suspected fraudulent calls and verify the authenticity of used devices before purchase.
But critics say forcing manufacturers to pre-install the app on every phone in the country is a severely disproportionate way to handle cybercrime.
The Indian order “represents a sharp and deeply worrying expansion of executive control over personal digital devices,” India’s Internet Freedom Foundation said in a statement on Tuesday.
“The stated objective of curbing IMEI fraud and improving telecom security is, on its face, a legitimate state aim. But the means chosen are disproportionate, legally fragile, and structurally hostile to user privacy and autonomy,” it added.
The group said on X that it would “fight this direction till it is rescinded.”
App permissions, data collection
One of the world’s largest telephone markets, India has more than 1.2 billion subscribers, and the Modi government claims the app, launched in January, has helped recover more than 700,000 lost phones.
It says the app has been downloaded over 10 million times and the system has helped to block over 4.2 million stolen or lost phones, in addition to terminating more than 30 million fraudulent mobile connections.
The government says the app “does not automatically capture any specific personal information from you without intimation on the application.”
Its privacy policy says users will be asked to share permission for sharing access to cameras, photos and files for iPhones – for select uses.
For Android, users will be asked to share call logs, send messages for registration, make and manage phone calls “to detect mobile numbers in your phone,” as well as grant access to cameras and photos.
Permissions taken by the Sanchar Saathi app pic.twitter.com/TSEcmA8sbt
— Utsav Techie (@utsavtechie) December 2, 2025
The Indian government says criminals often clone or spoof valid IMEI numbers onto stolen devices, making it impossible to track criminals or block hardware.
India, which has a large market for used phones, also wants to prevent people from buying stolen or blacklisted devices.
But critics say mandating the app for millions of phone users creates its own issues in light of the country’s checkered history on data security.
India’s state-managed database of citizens, Aadhaar, for instance, has seen multiple data breaches, including one that led to personal information — such as passport details — of 815 million people to be sold on the dark web.
Critics also say forcing the app on users is not the way to tackle cybersecurity concerns.
“The government effectively removes user consent as a meaningful choice,” Mishi Choudhary, who works on internet advocacy issues, said.
- Reuters, with additional editing and inputs from Vishakha Saxena
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