- The Government of India has dropped proposal to pre-load Aadhaar app on phones sold in the country.
- The IT Ministry hasn't given an official reason while rejecting the proposal. It was the sixth attempt to pre-install apps on phones in India.
- Call it a major win for both users and smartphone makers as it helps alleviate major security issues.
Days after the government of India proposed pre-installing the Aadhaar app on devices, it was rolled back after receiving due denial from the IT Ministry and major OEMs in the country. Although there’s no official reason available for the denial, it is loosely being tied to the unwanted security and privacy snarl that the pre-loading app could create for the users.
Government proposes OEMs to pre-install Aadhaar app on devices, rejected
According to Reuters, the Government of India (GOI) sent out a proposal to include an Aadhaar app on smartphones sold in India. An Aadhaar card is a mandatory identification document in the country, with more than 1.40 billion Aadhaar numbers registered to date held by Indian residents, used primarily in banking, telecom, or other sections, and is overseen by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).
However, after due consideration and consultation, the IT Ministry of India has rejected the proposal, stating it “is not in favor of mandating the pre-installation of the Aadhaar app on smartphones,” although it doesn’t mention any specific reason. Major stakeholders such as Apple, Google, and Samsung expressed their concerns about such pre-loading, as this would increase their production line, requiring separate manufacturing for devices sold in India to carry out the pre-loading process.
For the unversed, UIDAI’s Aadhaar card has been involved in data breaches. When we are talking about a ginormous database of 1.4 billion people, breaches or leaks of even a fraction of a percentage mean millions of people are affected. This has happened even though the government maintains that Aadhaar is safe and secure.
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The Government of India has been proposing the pre-installation of apps a few times now. In fact, there have been six proposals in the last two years, all of which were duly rejected by the IT ministry. One of the latest was with the Sanchar Sathi app; however, luckily, it wasn’t enacted officially.
