NEW DELHI: Apple does not plan to comply with a mandate to preload its smartphones with a state-owned cyber safety app and will convey its concerns to New Delhi, three sources familiar with the matter said, after the government’s move sparked surveillance concerns.
The Indian government has confidentially ordered companies including Apple, Samsung and Xiaomi to preload their phones with an app called Sanchar Saathi, or Communication Partner, within 90 days. The app is intended to track stolen phones, block them and prevent them from being misused.
The government also wants manufacturers to ensure that the app is not disabled. And for devices already in the supply chain, manufacturers should push the app to phones via software updates, Reuters was first to report on Monday.
India’s telecom ministry confirmed the move later, describing it as a security measure to combat “serious endangerment” of cybersecurity. But Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s political opponents and privacy advocates criticized the move, saying it is a way for the government to gain access to India’s 730 million smartphones.
Apple does not plan to comply with the directive and 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, said two of the industry sources who are familiar with Apple’s concerns. They declined to be named publicly as the company’s strategy is private.
“It’s not only like taking a sledgehammer, this is like a double-barrel gun,” said the first source.
Apple and the telecom ministry did not respond to requests for comment.
“Big brother cannot watch us”
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 a case.
The second source said Apple does not plan to go to court or take a public stand, but it will tell the government it cannot follow the order because of security vulnerabilities.
Apple “can’t do this. Period,” the person said.
Other brands including Samsung are reviewing the order, said a fourth industry source who is familiar with the matter. Samsung did not respond to Reuters queries.
Sources have said the government moved forward with the order without industry consultation.
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.
India’s main opposition Congress Party has called for a rollback of the mandate. On X, KC Venugopal, a top Congress leader, said “Big Brother cannot watch us.”
The government’s press release said the app can help tackle incidents of duplicated or spoofed IMEI numbers, which enable scams and network misuse.
“India has big second-hand mobile device market,” the telecom ministry said in a statement late on Monday. “Cases have also been observed where stolen or blacklisted devices are being re-sold.”
Apple to resist India order to preload state-run app as political outcry builds
https://arab.news/4f6f6
Apple to resist India order to preload state-run app as political outcry builds
- India state-run cyber safety app directive causes political storm
- Government wants all smartphones sold to have the app
26 Doctors without Borders workers remain unaccounted for in South Sudan a month after attacks
- A hospital in the town of Lankien was bombed by government forces, MSF said
- “We have lost contact with them amid ongoing insecurity”
NAIROBI: More than two dozen Doctors Without Borders workers remain unaccounted for a month after attacks in South Sudan, the medical charity said.
Two facilities belonging to the group, known by French acronym MSF, were attacked on Feb. 3 in Jonglei State, northeast of the capital, Juba, where violence has displaced an estimated 280,000 people since December.
A hospital in the town of Lankien was bombed by government forces, MSF said, while another medical facility in the town of Pieri was raided by “unknown assailants.” Both were located in opposition-held areas.
Staff working at the two facilities fled alongside much of the local population into deeply rural areas where armed clashes and aerial bombardments were ongoing.
MSF said in a statement on Monday that “26 of 291 of our colleagues working in Lankien and Pieri remain unaccounted for.
“We have lost contact with them amid ongoing insecurity,” it said.
The lack of communication with its staff could be linked to the limited network connectivity in much of the state. Staff members who had been contacted described “destruction, violence and extreme hardships.”
Fighting escalated sharply in December, when opposition forces captured a string of government outposts in north central Jonglei. In January, the government responded with a counteroffensive that recaptured most of the area it had lost.
Displaced people in Akobo, an opposition-held town near the Ethiopian border, described horrific violence by government fighters. Many described not being able to find food or water as they walked for days to reach safety.
The attacks on MSF facilities in Lankien and Pieri are part of an uptick in violence on humanitarian staff, supplies and infrastructure, aid groups say. MSF facilities have been attacked 10 times in the last 12 months.
“This violence has taken an unbearable toll not only on health care services, but on the very people who kept them running,” said Yashovardhan, MSF head of mission in South Sudan, who only uses one name.
“Medical workers must never be targets,” he said. “We are deeply concerned about what has happened to our colleagues and the communities we serve.”
