The government may force smartphone makers to allow removal of pre-installed apps and mandate screening of major operating system (OS) updates under new proposed security rules.
The new rules, which are being worked on by the ministry of electronics and IT (MeitY), could also see smartphone players like Samsung, Xiaomi, Vivo and Apple prolong their launch timelines.
Though the move has been designed to protect the security of user data, apprehending that Chinese manufacturers are able to transfer the same outside the country, it would hurt the revenues of all smartphone makers.
According to official sources, the proposal aims to allow users the option to remove all pre-installed apps.
Though both the measures, when implemented, would severely impact the revenues the smartphone manufacturers get from various app makers, users will have more choice.
At present, most smartphones come with a set of pre-installed apps, which cannot be deleted. Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi’s app store GetApps, Samsung’s payment app, Samsung Pay mini and Apple’s browser Safari in iPhones come pre-installed and cannot be deleted. Over and above these, there are other apps in phones which get updated from time to time. Users are first reminded through messages for updating their phones with the new apps. If they do not do so, the updates happen automatically after a few prompts.
The government fears that through pre-installed apps and such updates, manufacturers collect a lot of user data, which gets transferred outside the country as these are saved in servers abroad. The major fear is transfer of data by Chinese smartphone manufacturers.
Apart from data security, the view is also that users should have a choice regarding the apps they want and updates they prefer.
Industry analysts said that manufacturers tie up with lot of app makers for commercial consideration based on which they push their apps through automatic updates, which is not fair on users.
Official sources said that once the proposal comes into force, it is possible that all smartphones will have to go through Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certification to ensure that no violation of laid down guidelines is taking place.
Some industry sources, however, said that the move may make it difficult for the government to ban apps they see as security threat because smartphone manufacturers will not have control over them. For instance, in 2020, during the Indo-China border clashes, the government was able to ban some 300 Chinese apps easily since Google, which controls the Android OS, and Apple, which operates iOS, blocked them at one go. However, once the current proposal comes into play, it may become difficult to implement such one-stroke bans.