Users free to delete Sanchar Saathi if they wish, says Telecom Minister Scindia

New Delhi: Days after his ministry told smartphone makers to preload a state-run cybersecurity app on all new devices, Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Tuesday said users are free to delete the Sanchar Saathi app, and it will remain dormant till they register on it.

"If you want to delete it, then delete it," Scindia told reporters outside Parliament. "But not everyone in the country knows that this app exists to protect them from fraud and theft."

His remark followed growing privacy concerns over a November 28 government order directing smartphone makers to pre-install the Sanchar Saathi app on all new devices and to ensure that "its functionalities are not disabled or restricted".

For phones already in use or lying unsold in stores, the order asked manufacturers to push the app through software updates.

Critics fear that the app could be used to read messages that users exchange. The Opposition Congress called Sanchar Saathi a "snooping app".

Denying the Opposition's charges, Scindia asserted that there was no snooping or call monitoring through the app.

"It is our responsibility to make this app reach everyone. If you want to delete it, then delete it. If you don't want to use it, then don't register it. If you register it, then it will remain active. If you don't register it, then it will remain inactive," he said.

Critics also pointed to a similar mandate issued by Russia in August requiring a state-backed messaging app, MAX, to be pre-installed on all smartphones.

The government, however, said the app is crucial to counter "serious endangerment" to telecom cybersecurity from duplicate or spoofed IMEI numbers, which enable scams and network misuse.

IMEI or International Mobile Equipment Identity is a 14 to 17-digit number unique to each handset, which is used to cut off network access for phones reported to have been stolen.

"Everyone must have the right to privacy to send messages to family and friends without the government looking at everything," Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said, criticising the mandate for installing the app.

As per the direction issued, all mobile phone companies are required to report compliance to the DoT within 120 days.

Earlier in the day, Congress leaders criticised the order of the DoT to mandatorily install the Sanchar Saathi App in all mobile phones.

Congress MP Renuka Chowdhury has filed an adjournment motion notice in the Rajya Sabha seeking suspension of business to discuss the government's directions on the installation of the Sanchar Saathi app in new mobile handsets.

Congress general secretary K C Venugopal had said on Monday that the right to privacy is an intrinsic part of the fundamental right to life and liberty.

Scindia pointed out that the Opposition is just trying to find an issue out of nowhere and denied allegations that it was an app for snooping.

"There is no snooping on the basis of this, nor is there any call monitoring. If you want, then activate this. If you don't want to, then don't activate it. If you want to keep it on your phone, then keep it. If you want to delete it, then delete it," Scindia said.

The Minister said Sanchar Saathi is an app and a portal on the basis of which every sufferer is able to protect themselves with their own hands.

"This is a step towards public participation. In this, people should not object, people should welcome. On the basis of this, when you buy a mobile phone, on the basis of that, whether the IMEI number is fake or genuine, you can recognise it on the basis of the Sanchar Saathi app," the minister said.

He said there have been more than 1.5 crore downloads of the Sanchar Saathi App. The minister said that to date, approximately 2.75 crore fraudulent mobile connections have been disconnected, and approximately 20 lakh stolen phones have been traced on the basis of public participation through Sanchar Saathi.

The minister said approximately 7.5 lakh stolen phones have been returned to the user, and approximately 21 lakh phones have been disconnected on the basis of user recognition and reporting.

He further said that on one side, the power of telecommunications is connecting citizens, and on the other side, there are forces who are misusing its power to commit fraud, steal money and mobile phones. The minister asserted that the app is meant to protect customers.