No snooping into people’s phones, at least for now

After a massive backlash from opposition political parties, business houses like Apple and Samsung, and the general public, in a rare U-turn, the Modi government withdrew its directive requiring smartphone makers to pre-install a state-run cyber security application on all new devices, amid rising concerns that the measure could have compromised user privacy or enabled surveillance.

 The Sanchar Saathi app, which the government said only helps track and block stolen phones and prevents them from being misused, will, however, continue to be available on app stores for voluntary downloads. There have been around 1.5 crore app downloads already.
But despite the government backtracking and withdrawal of  the order, the question remains why it came out with an order that was controversial, and could trigger public outrage concerning the right to privacy? 

It assumes significance also, because not so long ago, in 2022, the country was rocked by allegations of Pegasus spyware being used by the same government, albeit at that time the target was the opposition and their leaders. Globally, no country has mandated pre-loading of a cybersecurity app on all smartphones; the only reported exception is Russia which in August ordered MAX , a state-backed messaging service viewed by critics as a potential surveillance tool.

Defending its own app, the government said it was purely meant to help citizens from bad actors in the cyber world.
The government further substantiated its case by stating that the app helped trace 26 lakh stolen handsets, with 7 lakh stolen handsets returned to consumers while 41 lakh mobile connections have been disconnected and 6 lakh frauds have been blocked.  The government’s own statements have been contradictory to say the least.  While facing heavy criticism, the communications minister confidently claimed that the Sanchar Saathi app can be deleted However, the argument collapsed as the government’s own direction under  Section 7(b) of the Act, categorically stated that the pre-installed app cannot be removed, nor can any of its functionalities be disabled or restricted. 
This does not entirely match with the government claim that the app does not harvest any data on its own, but works based on permissions granted by the user.The Modi government has been relentlessly pursuing its agenda to push through several controversial legislations like the UCC, the CAA, currently the SIR, and the demolition drives against a particular section of the population at the slightest opportunity(against an apex court order). 

The mandatory installation of the Sanchar Sathi app was another attempt to trifle people’s right to privacy.
As of now, citizens are free to breathe. The bigger question however remains unresolved. Why did it initiate such a move, that too at the expense of disrupting the parliamentary session? Or was it another diversionary tactic, considering the surprising U-turn and withdrawal of the order. After all, the Modi government is not known for backtracking from its decisions, controversies notwithstanding.
In a country and society already plagued by breach of data earlier from the Aadhaar base, and under constant threat of emerging technologies, and possible exposure of private data, the last thing citizens would want is snooping by their own elected government on their phones, and private life.