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India’s government is considering a proposal that would require smartphone companies to always activate satellite location tracking for better surveillance. Apple, Google, and Samsung oppose this due to privacy issues, according to Reuters.
The Modi administration has long been worried that its agencies don’t receive accurate locations when they request information from telecom companies during investigations. Currently, the firms rely on cellular tower data, which only gives rough area estimates that can vary by several meters.
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The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), which represents Reliance’s (RELI.NS), opens new tab Jio and Bharti Airtel (BRTI.NS), opens new tab, has proposed that precise user locations should only be provided if the government orders smartphone makers to activate A-GPS technology – which uses satellite signals and cellular data – according to a June internal federal IT ministry email.
That would require location services to always be activated in smartphones with no option for users to disable them. Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab, Samsung (005930.KS), opens new tab and Alphabet’s (GOOGL.O), opens new tab Google have told New Delhi that should not be mandated, said three of the sources who have direct knowledge of the deliberations.
The India Cellular & Electronics Association (ICEA), representing Apple and Google, stated in a confidential letter from July to the government that there is no global precedent for tracking device-level location.
“The A-GPS network service … (is) not deployed or supported for location surveillance,” said the letter, which added that the measure “would be a regulatory overreach.”
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Reuters said, India’s home ministry had scheduled a meeting of top smartphone industry executives to discuss the matter on Friday but it was postponed.
Experts suggest that using A-GPS technology, usually activated for specific apps or emergency calls, can enable authorities to track a user’s location within about a meter.
“This proposal would see phones operate as a dedicated surveillance device,” said Junade Ali, a digital forensics expert associated with Britain’s Institution of Engineering and Technology.
Cooper Quintin, a security researcher at the U.S.-based Electronic Frontier Foundation, said he had not heard of any such proposal elsewhere, calling it “pretty horrifying.”
Apple and Google’s lobby group, the ICEA, argued in their July letter that there are significant “legal, privacy, and national security concerns” with the proposal from the telecom group.
It warned that its users include military personnel, judges, corporate executives, and journalists, stating that location tracking could jeopardize their security due to the sensitive information they handle.
Even the old way of location tracking is becoming problematic, the telecom group said, as smartphone makers show a pop-up message to users, alerting them that their “carrier is trying to access your location.”
“A target can easily ascertain that he is being tracked by security agencies,” said the telecom group, urging the government to order phone makers to disable the pop-up features.
Privacy concerns should be a priority, and India should not disable pop-ups, as stated by Apple and Google’s group in their July letter to the government. This will promote transparency and give users control over their location.
