Recently, the Indian government has taken numerous steps to ensure that other countries do not exploit citizens’ digital privacy. Following the move, a new ET and Reuters reports reveal that the government intends to set up labs for verifying handsets and OS updates.
According to a statement received by ET Telecom, the government is working on new rules that will require the screening of major operating system updates before they are rolled out to customers.
Further, under the new rules, smartphone makers will have to provide an uninstallation option, and new models will be checked for compliance by a lab.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) is collaborating on the new rules with the National Technical Research Organization and other government agencies.
A Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) agency will authorize the lab to ensure a secure OS update and pre-installed application offered by the OEM.
Before formalizing the plan and making plans to implement the security checks within a year of notification, the authorities are currently conducting additional consultations with industry stakeholders.
The implementation will take some time because there will be additional consultation meetings with handset manufacturers and other industry stakeholders. Following the implementation of the new rules, smartphone manufacturers will be required to comply within a year.
This appears to be a great move by the government to prioritize user privacy. However, some industry analysts believe it may have an impact on manufacturers who maintain low hardware margins and generate revenue from the software side.