Govt fears Chinese phonemakers may be stealing info, sends them notice

August 17, 2017
Pankaj Doval

Fearing that phone makers, especially Chinese companies, may be siphoning and compromising data of Indian users, the government has asked them to furnish compliance reports on safety and security aspects.
A high-level meeting, chaired by IT and law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, has initiated the move which follows apprehensions that user information such as contact lists, messages and location is being procured illegally and in violation of the country's IT Act.
The concern is that the information is being surreptitiously sent to third-party servers in foreign locations, raising security concerns while violating the privacy of individuals, sources said.
TOI was the first to report the impending action against Chinese tech companies in its edition dated August 16. The Indian government's move, which is seen by some as the beginning of a trade war between India and China, comes at a time when the two countries are engaged in a bitter standoff over the Doklam issue.
An official source said the government is particularly concerned about the role of Chinese companies in this "activity", especially as they cumulatively account for a large chunk of mobile phone sales in India. These include companies such as Xiaomi, Vivo, Oppo, and Gionee. However, the notice has been sent to a total of 21 mobile makers, which also include other companies such as Samsung and Apple and the homegrown Micromax, Karbonn and Lava, official sources said.
Concerns over security include the device, its operating system, the browser on the device and pre-loaded apps. The companies have been asked to furnish details on their safety architecture by August 28.Sources said the government may also conduct a separate audit in case there are doubts about the response.
"Under Section 70B (6) of the IT Act, you are hereby requested to provide a detailed, structured written response about the safety and security practices, architecture, frameworks, guidelines standards etc followed and implemented in your product services, provided in the country ," the government's notice said. Official sources said that there have been "re ports" that user data is being compromised through the hardware and the apps that come pre-installed with phones.

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