Government Denies Reports of Seeking Smartphone Source Code From Apple, Samsung

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has stated that the government has not given any directive to smartphone companies for sharing source code on the manufacturing of smartphones, and these reports are totally false. They further added that the government has no intentions of acquiring source code from smartphone companies, and no such plan is in the pipeline.

According to a report quoting a foreign agency, Indian government officials have demanded that the software source code of smartphones be made accessible to the government through a security framework, and companies such as Samsung and Apple are affected in this matter. The ministry further clarified that phone companies have not been asked to use other software options in the security framework.

The ministry stated that an ecosystem is being developed to protect the personal data of smartphone users. Mobile phones enable digital transactions, government services are delivered through smartphones, and personal information is stored on smartphones. With over one billion smartphone users in India, smartphone users are vulnerable to cybercriminals.