LATEST UPDATES

KU’s NSS units at Main, North Campus organise activities, workshop for students

Precious Kashmir 27/03/2023

Amid dry weather forecast, night temp drops below normal in J&K

Precious Kashmir 27/03/2023

SSP Crime Kashmir among 2 top cops transferred with immediate effect

Precious Kashmir 27/03/2023

9 youth held for harassing, attacking family on road in Srinagar: Police

Precious Kashmir 27/03/2023

SARAS AAJEEVIKA Kashmir concludes with a record turnover

Precious Kashmir 25/03/2023

Couple detained in Jammu over alleged links with Amritpal Singh’s close aide

Precious Kashmir 25/03/2023

J&K to have Vande Bharat trains by next year: Union Railways Minister

Precious Kashmir 25/03/2023

Man found dead in Rambagh

Precious Kashmir 25/03/2023

Shooting stones, mudslides block Jammu-Srinagar National Highway

Indo Asian News Service 25/03/2023

Anti-hijack drill conducted at Jammu Airport

Indo Asian News Service 25/03/2023

Widespread rain, thunderstorm expected to continue in J&K

Indo Asian News Service 25/03/2023

Govt warns employees against discussing, criticizing its policies on social media

Precious Kashmir 24/03/2023
  • Need to change our mindset

    Roscoe Pound’s Theory of Social Engineering

    1173 shares
    Share 469 Tweet 293
  • Laboratory bearers working in School Education department demand promotion

    803 shares
    Share 321 Tweet 201
  • Many industries coming up in J&K: LG

    494 shares
    Share 198 Tweet 124
  • Visit Srinagar’s Tulip Garden, savour J&K’s hospitality: PM urges people

    555 shares
    Share 222 Tweet 139
  • Kashmir own reality show Koun Banega Lakhpati creates buzz on social media

    501 shares
    Share 200 Tweet 125
  • Garbage dumping at Jhelum banks goes unabated, authorities in slumber

    549 shares
    Share 220 Tweet 137
  • DHSK expresses gratitude to LG administration for TB elimination in Kashmir

    494 shares
    Share 198 Tweet 124
  • Home
  • Front
  • Jammu & Kashmir
    • City
  • Anchor stories
  • Business
  • Sports
  • National
  • World
  • Opinion
    • Edit
    • Interviews
    • Letters
  • epaper
Monday, March 27, 2023
PRECIOUS KASHMIR
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Front
  • Jammu & Kashmir
    • City
  • Anchor stories
  • Business
  • Sports
  • National
  • World
  • Opinion
    • Edit
    • Interviews
    • Letters
  • epaper
Precious Kashmir
No Result
View All Result
Home Anchor stories

India plans new security testing for smartphones, crackdown on pre-installed apps

Agencies by Agencies
15/03/2023
in Anchor stories
2 min read
Indian smartphone market expands 14.5 pc in 2018: IDC
FacebookTwitterWhatsappEmail

New Delhi: India plans to force smartphone makers to allow removal of pre-installed apps and mandate screening of major operating system updates under proposed new security rules, according to two people and a government document seen by Reuters.

The new rules, details of which have not been previously reported, could extend launch timelines in the world’s No.2 smartphone market and lead to losses in business from pre-installed apps for players including Samsung, Xiaomi, Vivo, and Apple.

India’s IT Ministry is considering these new rules amid concerns about spying and abuse of user data, said a senior government official, one of the two people, declining to be named as the information is not yet public.

“Pre-installed apps can be a weak security point and we want to ensure no foreign nations, including China, are exploiting it. It’s a matter of national security,” the official added.

India has ramped up scrutiny of Chinese businesses since a 2020 border clash between the neighbours, banning more than 300 Chinese apps, including TikTok. It has also intensified scrutiny of investments by Chinese firms.

Globally too, many nations have imposed restrictions on the use of technology from Chinese firms like Huawei and Hikvision on fears Beijing could use them to spy on foreign citizens. China denies these allegations.

Currently, most smartphones come with pre-installed apps that cannot be deleted, such as Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi’s app store GetApps, Samsung’s payment app Samsung Pay mini and iPhone maker Apple’s browser Safari.

Under the new rules, smartphone makers will have to provide an uninstall option and new models will be checked for compliance by a lab authorised by the Bureau of Indian Standards agency, two people with knowledge of the plan said.

The government is also considering mandating screening of every major operating system update before it is rolled out to consumers, one of the people said.

“Majority of smartphones used in India are having pre-installed Apps/Bloatware which poses serious privacy/information security issue(s),” stated a February 8 confidential government record of an IT Ministry meeting, seen by Reuters.

The closed-door meeting was attended by representatives from Xiaomi, Samsung, Apple and Vivo, the meeting record shows.

The government has decided to give smartphone makers a year to comply once the rule comes into effect, the date for which has not been fixed yet, the document added.

The companies and India’s IT Ministry did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

‘Massive hindrance’

India’s fast-growing smartphone market is dominated by Chinese players, with Xiaomi and BBK Electronics’ Vivo and Oppo accounting for almost half of all sales, Counterpoint data shows. South Korea’s Samsung has a 20% share and Apple has 3%.

While European Union regulations require allowing removal of pre-installed apps, it does not have a screening mechanism to check for compliance like India is considering.

An industry executive said some pre-installed apps like the camera are critical to user experience and the government must make a distinction between these and non-essential ones when imposing screening rules.

Smartphone players often sell their devices with proprietary apps, but also sometimes pre-install others with which they have monetisation agreements.

The other worry is more testing could prolong approval timelines for smartphones, a second industry executive said. Currently it takes about 21 weeks for a smartphone and its parts to be tested by the government agency for safety compliance.

“It’s a massive hindrance to a company’s go-to market strategy,” the executive said. (Agencies)

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Related

Share198Tweet124SendSend
Agencies

Agencies

  • Need to change our mindset

    Roscoe Pound’s Theory of Social Engineering

    1173 shares
    Share 469 Tweet 293
  • Laboratory bearers working in School Education department demand promotion

    803 shares
    Share 321 Tweet 201
  • Many industries coming up in J&K: LG

    494 shares
    Share 198 Tweet 124
  • Visit Srinagar’s Tulip Garden, savour J&K’s hospitality: PM urges people

    555 shares
    Share 222 Tweet 139
  • Kashmir own reality show Koun Banega Lakhpati creates buzz on social media

    501 shares
    Share 200 Tweet 125
  • Garbage dumping at Jhelum banks goes unabated, authorities in slumber

    549 shares
    Share 220 Tweet 137
  • DHSK expresses gratitude to LG administration for TB elimination in Kashmir

    494 shares
    Share 198 Tweet 124
Precious Kashmir

Copyright © 2020 Precious Kashmir.

Navigate Site

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise with Us
  • Terms of Service

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Front
  • Jammu & Kashmir
    • City
  • Anchor stories
  • Business
  • Sports
  • National
  • World
  • Opinion
    • Edit
    • Interviews
    • Letters
  • epaper

Copyright © 2020 Precious Kashmir.