India reportedly reviewing telecom industry’s proposal for always-on satellite location tracking on smartphones | Infinium-tech

There has been a lot of discussion and uproar in India recently over the central government’s directive asking smartphone manufacturers to pre-load its cyber security app Sanchar Saathi on all new devices, and just when we thought the dust had settled after the government withdrew the mandate, we are now seeing a new report that may spark yet another debate in the country, raising security and privacy concerns.

according to reutersThe Indian government is reviewing a proposal from the telecom industry that would require smartphone companies to keep satellite location tracking enabled at all times for better tracking.

The report said the Indian government has been concerned for years that its agencies are unable to get precise locations when they make legal requests to telecom operators during investigations, and this is because telecom companies are limited to using cellular tower data, which can be off by several meters as it can only provide the location of an approximate area.

Therefore, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), representing Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, proposed that the government order smartphone makers to activate A-GPS, which uses satellite signals and cellular data. This will require satellite tracking to remain active on smartphones at all times, with no option for users to disable it.

Apple, Samsung and Google opposed the proposal and told the government that always-on satellite tracking should not be mandated. India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA), the lobbying group representing Apple and Google, said in a confidential letter to the Indian government in July, “The measure to track device-level location has no precedent anywhere else in the world.”

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ICEA also argued in its letter that there are significant “legal, privacy and national security concerns” with the telecom group’s proposal, and that mandating always-on A-GPS for precise location tracking “would be a regulatory overreach.”

As noted, not only has the telecom group proposed A-GPS activation, but there are also issues with older location-tracking methods, as smartphone companies display a pop-up message to alert users when a network carrier is attempting to access their location.

The telecom group argued that “the target can easily find out that he is being tracked by security agencies,” and urged the government to order smartphone manufacturers to disable pop-up features.

On that matter, the ICEA argued in its letter to the Indian government that “privacy concerns should take priority and India should not even consider disabling pop-ups.”

reuters It is claimed that India’s Home Ministry had scheduled a meeting of top smartphone industry officials on Friday to discuss the matter, but it was postponed.

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