Indian Government Wants Phone Location Surveillance After Sanchar Saathi Fiasco: What Is A-GPS Surveillance And Why Smartphone Users In India Shoul...

The government of India is now reviewing a proposal to force smartphone producers to let satellite location tracking that is always activated for improved surveillance. The move is facing resistance from

brands like Google, Samsung, and Apple because of privacy concerns, as per the documents, emails, and five sources accessed by Reuters. The debate around privacy picked up pace after the government first forced the smartphone makers to preload the Sanchar Saathi application on all phones. However, the move was welcomed with a lot of criticism, due to which the officials had to roll it back.

Why The Government Wants Exact Location Data?

This is happening because the government has been concerned that its agencies do not get precise locations when legal requests are initiated to telecom firms during investigations of different cases. Under the current scenario, the firms are limited to using cellular tower data that can only offer an estimated area location which is not precise to the point. The Cellular Operators Association of India, which represents telco giants like Bharti Airtel and Jio, has proposed that precise user locations should only be provided if the government orders smartphone makers to enable A-GPS technology - a technology that uses satellite signals and cellular data.Also Read: What Is Sanchar Saathi App? Why Govt Wants It Pre-Installed on Every Mobile Phone If this comes into effect, the users will have no option to disable location services on their smartphones. Apple, Samsung, and Google have said that this should not come out as a mandate because of privacy concerns. With access to the A-GPS technology, the government can get precise location data with which a user can be tracked within a meter. As of now, there is no roadmap for the mandate. However, a discussion between the government of India and the top officials from the smartphone manufacturers could soon take place, where any possibility of a mandate proposed by the government will of course be opposed.

What Is A-GPS Surveillance?

See A-GPS stands for Assisted Global Positioning System with which your phone can use satellite signals plus help from movile network or internet data to get locations faster. Now, if used by the government, the feature will make your phone a real-time location provider monitored by applications. Furthermore, the feature can also assist permitted apps or government to silently build a map of your movements.

Why Smartphone Users In India Should Worry?

If the government issues the mandate, the users may lose the option to disable location services and stop seeing prompts when their location is being accessed. And with this, India could become one of the first countries where this kind of rule is implemented. This also can give birth to stalking, surveillance of private habits and profiling, which could be a major concern for people in sensitive roles.