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Pre-installed 'Sanchar Saathi' app violation of right to privacy: CPI(M) MPs

NEW DELHI: CPI(M) leaders on Tuesday raised concern over the 'Sanchar Saathi' application, which the smartphone makers have been asked to mandatorily pre-install on their devices, and called it a violation of the fundamental right to privacy, and an excuse for mass surveillance. CPI(M) Lok Sabha MP V Sivadasan, in a statement, condemned the directive and said the move is a direct violation of the fundamental right to privacy, a right upheld by the Supreme Court of India. The justification provided, cybersecurity and tracking lost or stolen phones, is merely a pretext for mass surveillance. Forcing every citizen to carry government-installed, undeletable software amounts to state intrusion into private lives, Sivadasan said. This is a disturbing attempt to normalise surveillance and weaken democratic freedoms under the guise of security. Security cannot be used to trample constitutional rights. Citizens must have control over their own devices, and any monitoring tool should be voluntary, transparent, and strictly regulated, he said. CPI(M) Rajya Sabha leader John Brittas wrote to Union communications minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and said compulsory pre-installation of the app, even if deletion is later permitted, undermines the very principle of informed consent and transforms the mobile phone into a potential instrument of continuous digital supervision. Government's clarification today that Sanchar Saathi is 'optional' is an eye-wash. True optionality can't coexist with compulsory factory pre-installation, Brittas said in a post on X. Govts clarification today that Sanchar Saathi is optional is an eye-wash. True optionality cant coexist with compulsory factory pre-installation. For millions of users with limited digital literacy, a pre-loaded app is permanent by default. There are also widespread fears pic.twitter.com/NSJC0Sf8EH John Brittas (@JohnBrittas) December 2, 2025 For millions of users with limited digital literacy, a pre-loaded app is permanent by default. There are also widespread fears that data collection may begin the moment it's pre-loaded and continue even after deletion, he said. He pointed out that the apprehension deepens when this measure is viewed alongside the government's another recent direction on continuous SIM-to-device binding for messaging applications such as WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, Snapchat, etc., warning that together these measures could lead to the creation of a permanent, real-time digital traceability grid over civilian communication, mapping our social lives and mobility in unprecedented detail. Add this with Govt's another recent directive for SIM-to-device binding for WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal/Snapchat - and we're staring at a real-time civilian traceability grid mapping our social lives and mobility in unprecedented detail, he said. According to the November 28 directive of the Department of Telecommunications, the messaging platforms will have to ensure that services work only if an active SIM is in the user's device. Also, any web version of the app must automatically log users out at least once every six hours. The players providing app-based communication services in India will have to comply within 90 days from the date of issue of the directive. Citing the Supreme Court's landmark judgment in Justice K S Puttaswamy vs Union of India, he reminded the Government that the right to privacy is intrinsic to life and personal liberty under Article 21. Brittas also recalled the 2023 iPhone warning message episode in which several elected representatives, journalists and constitutional authorities received security warnings from Apple regarding possible state-sponsored hacking attempts. He said, despite raising this issue in Parliament and seeking only the status and findings of the investigation reportedly referred to CERT-In, his questions were repeatedly disallowed on the ground that the matter was secret in nature. To this day, to my knowledge, Parliament remains uninformed whether the probe was ever completed or what its findings were. When even Parliament is denied access to post facto findings in a matter that strikes at the heart of fundamental rights, it becomes exceedingly difficult for citizens to repose trust in assurances that new digital controls will not be misused, he said. The Department of Telecom has directed manufacturers and importers of mobile handsets to ensure that its fraud-reporting app Sanchar Saathi is pre-installed in all new devices within 90 days. According to the direction dated November 28, all mobile phones that will be manufactured in India or imported after 90 days from the date of issuing of the order will need to have the app. Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Tuesday said the app can be deleted by users. Priyanka says mandatory pre-install of Sanchar Saathi shows country slipping into dictatorship

2 Dec 2025 7:47 pm