India weighs greater phone-location surveillance; Apple, Google and Samsung protest

NEW DELHI - India’s government is reviewing a telecoms industry proposal to force smartphone firms to enable satellite location tracking that is always activated for better surveillance, a move opposed by Apple, Google and Samsung due to privacy concerns, according to documents, e-mails and five sources.

A fierce privacy debate erupted in India this week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government was forced to rescind an order requiring smartphone makers to preload a state-run cyber-safety app on all devices after activists and politicians raised concerns about potential snooping.

For years, the Modi administration has been concerned that its agencies do not get precise locations when legal requests are made to telecoms firms during investigations.

Under the current system, the firms are limited to using cellular tower data, which can provide only an estimated area location that can be off by several metres.

The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), which represents Reliance’s Jio and Bharti Airtel, has proposed that precise user locations should be provided only if the government orders smartphone makers to activate A-GPS technology – which uses satellite signals and cellular data – according to a June internal federal IT ministry e-mail.

That would require location services to always be activated in smartphones, with no option for users to disable them.

Apple, Samsung and Alphabet’s Google have told New Delhi that it should not be mandated, said three of the sources who have direct knowledge of the deliberations.

A measure to track device-level location has no precedent anywhere else in the world, lobbying group India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA), which represents both Apple and Google, wrote in a confidential letter to the government in July, which was viewed by Reuters.

“The A-GPS network service... (is) not deployed or supported for location surveillance,” said the letter, which added that the measure “would be a regulatory overreach”.

‘Dedicated surveillance device’

India’s home ministry had scheduled a meeting of top smartphone industry executives to discuss the matter on Dec 5 but it was postponed, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said. On Dec 4, Reuters sent questions related to this topic to the ministry.

India’s IT and home ministries, which are both analysing the COAI proposal, did not respond to Reuters’ queries.

Apple, Samsung, Google, Reliance and Airtel did not respond to requests for comment. Lobby groups ICEA and COAI also did not respond.

At this point, no policy decision has been made by the IT or home ministries.

Taking advantage of A-GPS technology – which is typically turned on only when certain apps are running or when emergency calls are being made – could provide the authorities with location data precise enough that a user can be tracked to within about a metre, according to technology experts.

“This proposal would see phones operate as a dedicated surveillance device,” said Mr Junade Ali, a digital forensics expert associated with Britain’s Institution of Engineering and Technology.

Mr Cooper Quintin, a security researcher at the US-based Electronic Frontier Foundation, said he had not heard of any such proposal elsewhere, calling it “pretty horrifying”.

Governments worldwide routinely seek new ways to better track cellphone users’ movements or data. Russia has mandated the installation of a state-backed communications app on all mobile phones in the country.

Telcos v smartphone firms

India is the world’s second-biggest mobile market, with 735 million smartphones as at mid-2025, where Google’s Android powers more than 95 per cent of the devices, with the rest using Apple’s iOS, Counterpoint Research says.

Apple and Google’s lobby group, the ICEA, argued in its July letter that there are significant “legal, privacy, and national security concerns” with the proposal from the COAI.

It warned that its user base included people from the military, judges, corporate executives and journalists, adding that proposed location tracking risked their security, given that they hold sensitive information.

The COAI has said that the old way of location tracking is becoming problematic, as smartphone makers show a pop-up message to users, alerting them that their “carrier is trying to access your location”.

“A target can easily ascertain that he is being tracked by security agencies,” said the telecoms group, urging the government to order phone makers to disable the pop-up features.

But the ICEA argued in its July letter that privacy concerns should take priority and India should not consider disabling the pop-ups.

This will “ensure transparency and user control over their location”. REUTERS