India Telecom Ministry orders mandatory govt cybersecurity app on new phones

India's telecoms ministry has privately asked smartphone makers to preload all new devices with a state-owned cyber security app that cannot be deleted, a government order showed, a move likely to antagonise Apple and privacy advocates.

 India is one of the world's largest telephone markets, with more than 1.2 billion subscribers, and



government figures show the app, launched in January, has helped recover more than 700,000 lost phones, including 50,000 in October alone.

Apple, which has previously locked horns with the telecoms regulator over development of a government anti-spam mobile app, is among the companies, such as Samsung, Vivo, Oppo and Xiaomi bound by the new order.