India considers mandatory always-on phone tracking; Apple, Google raise privacy alarm

New Delhi: India is looking at an idea that might require the mandatory use of satellite location tracking on smartphones at all times, which has elicited considerable response against the idea by major technological corporations. It has been documented and reported that Apple, Google and Samsung have expressed privacy and security concerns about the government considering a request by a telecom industry to authorise A-GPS tracking at all times. The action follows days after security officials pulled an order mandating a state-operated cyber security application to be installed on every device because of the backlash over possible surveillance.

The long complaint of officials is that the present legal requests forwarded to the telecom operators only give approximate tower-based locations, which are usually inaccurate by a few metres. The group of industries, COAI, which represents both Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, has made the argument that allowing optional A-GPS would provide law enforcers with accurate, near-real-time information. The maker of smartphones, however, cautions that such a system would give the user no control and would provide an unprecedented system of surveillance.

Apple, Google and Samsung have informed the government that they are not in a position to contribute to the establishment of mandatory always-on location services. In a secret letter dated July, the India Cellular & Electronics Association, which represents both Apple and Google, stated that there is no international precedent of tracking the location of devices at the device level and termed the suggestion as a regulatory overstep. Experts believe that A-GPS would be able to locate users within a metre, making phones a tool of surveillance.

There is also the alarm by digital rights experts. Forensics expert Junade Ali described the idea as transforming smartphones into dedicated surveillance devices, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation termed the concept 'horrifying'. According to industry lobby groups, the action jeopardises the security of the users, including the military employees, judges, journalists and executives who access confidential information.

Telecom operators claim that the old system is becoming ineffective. They assert that smartphone manufacturers have begun to show warnings to customers that their carrier is attaching to their positions, alerting victims when they are being investigated. They desire the government to heed these warnings. However, tech companies demand that the pop-ups should not be removed because they are required to be transparent and under the control of the user, as privacy should be prioritised.

The IT and home ministries are yet to evaluate the proposal, and an appointment that was supposed to be made with leaders in the smartphone industry on Friday was cancelled. All the ministries, companies or lobby groups did not respond to requests to comment. India is yet to make a policy decision on the topic of surveillance and digital rights, and the debate is soaring.