India plans to verify and record every smartphone in circulation

Summary

The Indian government is widening the scope of its anti-theft and cybersecurity initiative to cover both new and used smartphones, an effort aimed at curbing device theft and online fraud but a move that is also raising fresh privacy concerns. As part of the expansion, the Indian telecom ministry is requiring companies that buy or trade used phones to verify every device through a central database of IMEI numbers. This comes in addition to a recent directive ordering smartphone manufacturers to preinstall the government’s Sanchar Saathi app on all new handsets and push it onto existing devices through a software update. Reuters first reported the news on Monday, which was later confirmed by the ministry in a public statement. Launched in 2023, the Sanchar Saathi portal allows users to block or trace lost and stolen phones. The system has blocked more than 4.2 million devices and traced 2.6 million more devices, per government data. The system expanded earlier this year with the release of a dedicated Sanchar Saathi app in January, which the government says helped recover more than 700,000 phones, including 50,000 in October alone. The Sanchar Saathi app has since gained broad adoption. The app has been downloaded nearly 15 million times and saw more than three million monthly active users in November — up more than 600% from its launch month, according to marketing intelligence firm Sensor Tower. Web traffic to Sanchar Saathi has also surged, with monthly unique visitors rising by more than 49% year-over-year, per Sensor Tower data shared with TechCrunch. The government’s order to pre-install Sanchar Saathi has already drawn significant backlash from privacy advocates, civil society groups, and opposition parties. Critics argue the move expands state visibility into personal devices without adequate safeguards. The Indian government, however, says the mandate is intended to address rising cases of cybercrime, such as IMEI duplication, device cloning, fraud in the se...