If this means what I think it does, it's good news... But unfortunately, I've a nasty feeling that this will be attempted again and again until it sticks.
We shouldn't call it "cyber safety" as that is a loaded phrase here. Obviously other considerations were part of it.
Looks like the complaining and protesting on Twitter helped, even if was serious, and some just memes. Somethings to note-
1. Most Indian bureaucracy is clueless about tech things, and just goes by whatever somebody who sounds like techy enough is selling them. Which in this case I'm guessing is a data mining company/lobby.
2. The information derived can be used for various purposes. Plotting election trends, economics, spotting general trends pro/against politics and other nefarious causes. etc.
3. Spying.
4. Using information to go after political opponents.
5. Demographic targeting, which in Indian context almost always means a pogrom against groups, which other groups don't like.
6. Selling data to commercial entities for better targeting, or even social engineering buying choices etc.
There could be many others. But its kind of nice that it was taken back. Having said this, it will be pushed again at some point when people are busy with a crisis and this will be sold as a fix.
This was never going anywhere and if the Indian government thought it could get away with effectively installing spyware, then they were just self indulgent.
The only upshot of this whole saga seems to be an increased awareness (though a small bit) in general public about importance of privacy in the digital world. Most of the media outlets (both English and regional language newspapers) provided a prominent coverage of this news.
Do people have rights around the world, to not use a smartphone or the internet to access critical services/commerce? Shouldn't that be a thing if not?
BBC news about India has been so negative in the past few years, I have stopped trusting them. Of course there are other news about them spoofing videos.
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[ 3.4 ms ] story [ 28.7 ms ] threadWe shouldn't call it "cyber safety" as that is a loaded phrase here. Obviously other considerations were part of it.
1. Most Indian bureaucracy is clueless about tech things, and just goes by whatever somebody who sounds like techy enough is selling them. Which in this case I'm guessing is a data mining company/lobby.
2. The information derived can be used for various purposes. Plotting election trends, economics, spotting general trends pro/against politics and other nefarious causes. etc.
3. Spying.
4. Using information to go after political opponents.
5. Demographic targeting, which in Indian context almost always means a pogrom against groups, which other groups don't like.
6. Selling data to commercial entities for better targeting, or even social engineering buying choices etc.
There could be many others. But its kind of nice that it was taken back. Having said this, it will be pushed again at some point when people are busy with a crisis and this will be sold as a fix.
Read between the lines?
> Given Sanchar Saathi’s increasing acceptance, Government has decided not to make the pre- installation mandatory for mobile manufacturers.
That is how they ramped up enrollment in Aadhaar UID.
India: Every phone must install a cyber safety app
Apple: No
India: OK, nevermind
?
Policy that is hard to pass: SIM binding for all messenger apps and automatic log out every 6 hours for desktop apps.
Even more egregious policy: Pre-install spyware that cannot be disabled.
Withdraw the egregious policy on outrage, and people think they have won the battle.