The Indian government on Wednesday scrapped a recent directive to smartphone makers to install a non-removable cybersecurity app developed at its behest on new devices before purchase.
Reports of the order given to phone manufacturers on November 28 had aroused protests from opposition parties and privacy advocates.
Sources also indicated that major phone manufacturers Apple and Samsung were planning to circumvent the directive.
What has the government said?
The Communications Ministry said in a Wednesday statement that the "government has decided not to make the pre-installation mandatory for mobile manufacturers."
"The app is secure and purely meant to help citizens from bad actors in the cyber world," the statement said, adding that it was dropping the directive because the app was becoming very popular anyway, with 600,000 downloads of the app, called Sanchar Saathi ("communication partner"), since Tuesday.
The statement came a day after ministers from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government came out in defense of the app, saying it was meant only to help track and block stolen phones to prevent their misuse.
However, they were reticent in the face of criticism as to why the app could not be deleted from devices.
At a debate held shortly before the government rollback was announced, opposition lawmakers slammed the directive.
Randeep Singh Surjewala of the Congress party said the app "could be a possible kill switch that can turn every cell phone into a brick, which the government could use against journalists, opposition leaders, and dissidents, if it so desires."
Surjewala also warned against the risk of hacking, which could "expose sensitive information, including passwords, bank account numbers and personal data."
Similar move from Moscow
Modi's plan to make the app's installation obligatory is similar to a move in August by Russian authorities, who ordered that a state-backed messenger app called MAX be pre-installed on all mobile phones and tablets.
Critics say that app could be used to track users.
The Internet Freedom Foundation advocacy group welcomed the Indian government's rollback but with reservations.
"For now, we should treat this as cautious optimism, not closure, until the formal legal direction is published and independently confirmed," the group said in a post on social media.
