Pre-installed apps can be removed
According to Aetna from Isna, the new regulations, the details of which have not been published so far, may prolong the launch schedule in India and cause players like Samsung, Xiaomi, Vivo and Apple to lose in the business of pre-installed applications.
India’s IT ministry is reviewing the new regulations amid concerns over spying and misuse of user data, a senior government official told Reuters. Pre-installed apps can be a security vulnerability and we want to make sure that no foreign country, including China, exploits them. This issue is related to national security.
Since the 2020 border conflict with its neighbor, India has stepped up scrutiny of Chinese companies and banned more than 300 Chinese apps, including TikTok. It has also intensified the monitoring of investment by Chinese companies.
At the global level, many countries have imposed restrictions on the use of technology from Chinese companies such as Huawei and Hikvision, due to concerns about Chinese companies spying on foreign citizens, but China has rejected all these claims.
Currently, most smartphones come with pre-installed apps that users cannot uninstall. For example, the Xiaomi phone comes with the “Get Apps” store application, the Samsung phone comes with the “Samsung Pay” application, and the iPhone comes with the Safari browser.
Under the new regulations, smartphone makers will have to add an uninstall option for pre-installed apps, and new phone models will be checked for compliance.
According to one of the sources, the government also plans to check for major OS updates after they are released to consumers.
According to a Reuters report, the Indian government has decided to give smartphone makers a year to comply with the regulations once they come into force, but no date has yet been set.