India Orders Mobile Phones Preloaded With Government App Ensure Cyber Safety 2025 12 01
Reuters1 day
India Mandates Undeletable Government App on All Smartphones
Is mandatory government software a dangerous step toward surveillance, or a necessary action against rampant device fraud?
Above: The iPhone 17 series is on display in an Apple store in a mall in Mumbai, India, on Sept. 19, 2025. Image credit: Ashish Vaishnav/SOPA Images/Getty Images
The Spin
Pro-government narrative
Preinstalling Sanchar Saathi addresses a genuine cybersecurity crisis in a market with over 1.2 billion subscribers, plagued by fraud and stolen devices. The app has already recovered 700,000 lost phones and blocked millions of fraudulent connections, proving that aggressive preventive measures work at scale.
Government-critical narrative
Forcing an undeletable government app onto every phone crosses a dangerous line into state surveillance. India now joins authoritarian regimes like Russia in mandating preinstalled government software that strips away user consent and opens the door to digital overreach under the guise of security.
Limited Coverage
This story currently has limited reporting from left-leaning sources. We will continue to monitor all major outlets and update our coverage as additional perspectives become available.