Is the Modi Govt Working on a Proposal to Insist All Cellphones Have Location ‘on’ at All Times?
The Wire Staff
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New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government may be toying with the idea of insisting that all smartphone holders have the ‘location’ feature ‘on’ permanently switched on in all phones manufactured by it.
The 'location' pointer of a smartphone turned on.
News agency Reuters reports that big manufacturers, Apple, Samsung and Google have privately protested against the proposal and told the government that they will not be able to do this. The Union home ministry, the report says, was meant to have held a meeting today with representatives of smartphone manufacturers in India to take the matter forward, but the meeting has been postponed.
This comes shortly after the embarrassing about-turn the Modi government had to make on its notification making it mandatory for all smartphone manufacturers to install the government-owned and run Sanchar Saathi app from March 2026. The government app, as per its claims, is only to provide cyber-security to those with cellphones. Privacy concerns, and serious doubts about the government’s ability to prevent cyber-attacks, thefts and intrusions, led to massive outrage online by users, civil society and political parties, and eventually forced the government to backtrack, despite first denying it was mandatory and then trying to say it would withdraw only if there was negative “feedback” from the public.
Reuters has cited “documents, emails and five sources” and reports that the move has its genesis in a purported proposal by The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), representing Reliance's Jio and Bharti Airtel. The Association, as per an internal IT ministry email, had proposed that “precise user locations should only be provided if the government orders smartphone makers to activate A-GPS technology”. This technology uses satellite signals and cellular data to be able to precisely locate the phone. In the absence of location being ‘on’, the cellphone’s location is a broad approximation depending upon the relevant cellphone tower data. This approximate location could be off by a few metres.
Reuters has cited a confidential letter by lobbying group India Cellular & Electronics Association (ICEA), representing Apple and Google to the government, refusing to comply. If the government of India asks this of manufacturers, it would be the first time in the world that such a direction will have been issued.
"The A-GPS network service ... [is] not deployed or supported for location surveillance," said the letter, which added that the measure "would be a regulatory overreach."
| What is A-GPS technology? This is only turned on when certain apps are running or when phones go into emergency call mode. Making this compulsory is still not a policy, and experts cited by Reuters say making it mandatory would amount to turning the phone into a “surveillance device”. Another said such a proposal is “pretty horrifying.” |
The letter against this proposal cites "legal, privacy, and national security concerns.” It warned their users would include people “from the military, judges, corporate executives and journalists,” and proposed location tracking “risked their security given that they hold sensitive information.”
The proposal is still being analysed by “India's IT and home ministries”, per the news agency but none of the stakeholders, including ministries, lobby groups and companies have responded to them for comments.
It it noteworthy that the government's track record of collecting and storing data is not great, with several breaches and leaks reported in the last decade.
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