The cybersecurity app you can’t disable

Remember the fury when Apple pre-downloaded a U2 album on everyone’s iPhones?

Well imagine a repeat, but instead of Apple it’s India, and instead of that sweet Celtic blend of Bono’s messianic baritone with The Edge’s angelic delay-chimes, it’s a government-controlled cybersecurity app you can never ditch.

India launched its new Sanchar Saathi (aka ‘communication companion’) app in January, with the stated aim of cracking down on device theft and scams (~doubling each year).

It allows users to locate and block their lost phones or report fraud via each device’s unique International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI). Reportedly helping the government recover 50,000 lost phones in October alone, Delhi is now making the app mandatory. 

But as you can imagine, not everyone is convinced…

• Privacy: nobody reads the T&Cs, but they give off strong Grease vibes here (“the rules are, there ain’t no rules”). This app can access your camera, pics, calls, texts… and in a world where the line between security and surveillance is already thinner than the latest iPhone 17 Air Max Lite X Deluxe Plus S +, that’s rattled folks.
• Private sector: this government directive has also rattled the phone-makers themselves, as it clashes with most manufacturer bans on pre-loading third-party apps before sale (to maintain user security and control). With just 90 days to comply, word is Apple is already pushing back. And then there’s the…
• Politics: this thing is exploding like a 2016-era Samsung Galaxy Note 7, with India’s raucous opposition not only declaring the app unconstitutional but also Modi’s government a dystopian dictatorship. Rahul Gandhi is even vowing protests, and last time he did that, bro ended up walking the entire length of India!

But while this all plays out, it’s worth stepping back to ask: has anyone tried it before? 

Well yes, though it’s a short list that includes…

• Russia — it started force-feeding its ‘MAX’ superapp (like China’s WeChat) earlier this year. We’d love to ask Russia’s top rights voices about this one, but somehow, whether it’s Politkovskaya, Estemirova, Markelov, Baburova, Magnitsky, Nemtsov, Litvinenko, Grigoryeva, or Shchekochikhin, they just keep turning up dead.
• North Korea also has its own Kwangmyong app, which not only delivers the absolutely most piping hot trending state-generated Jucheist ‘tent, but can track your location, screenshots, and any naughty naughty South Korean soap-operas.

Oh, and Brazil has launched its own IMEI-based tool to let users block stolen devices, though it’s not mandatory. And therein lies the trade-off: sure, it has fewer users, but also fewer quality memes of your leader clinging to a phone tower listening in on your calls.

And maybe Modi’s seen all the spicy memes, because moments ago his government announced it’s ditching any plans to make the app mandatory!

Intrigue’s Take

Some of the grittiest espionage fiction has come from David Ignatius, who built deep intelligence networks as a journalist — the result was both a) books the CIA itself describes as “a novel but not fiction”, and b) criticism he was too CIA-sympathetic.

Anyway, Ridley Scott made one into the Body of Lies film about the CIA’s war on terrorism, featuring a scene where Russell Crowe tells Leonardo DiCaprio, “if you live like it’s the past, and you behave like it’s the past, then guys from the future find it very hard to see you.” It’s a sharp line that hints at the first of many issues when governments see tech as their silver bullet: whatever your move, there’s always a counter-move. Ram Sanchar Saathi onto a billion phones, then guess your next security vulnerability? Sanchar Saathi.

The second is how this app reflects some of Modi’s authoritarian impulses we’ve seen before, like when his 2016 demonetisation play yoinked 86% of cash from circulation overnight in an attempt to crush black money, but it ended up an economic disaster. It’s that populist temptation for quick solutions yet again diving chin-first into India’s reality.

And the third is what this all means for Big Tech: as Apple and others scrambled to diversify their supply chain risk away from China, India emerged as the promised land, but it hasn’t taken long for the script to flip. Sure, it’s backed down, but what about next time?

But lest you think we’re just dunking on India here, this app is really but a straw in today’s wind: whether it’s China-made buses getting remote-controlled in Norway, or Germany’s Porsches now reportedly getting disabled across Russia, one way or another, every capital will now feel the urge to scrutinise if not control every bit of tech it didn’t make itself.