Do you think Signal will comply or simply leave India and leave more than a billion people without proper E2EE messaging.
And what is stopping someone to forking the Signal app just to remove this requirement and installing it on their Android or GrapheneOS? Like any government intervention with tech, they won’t stop criminals smart enough to still evade and will only end up restricting the general populace.
Their “solution” for web based communication like WhatsApp Web is to simply log the user out every six hours and require reauthentication. That’s terrible UX. Also, how would sim binding be implemented only for a single country?
All good questions. But government of one country doesn’t care how it can be done. They just want it done.
That is certainly true. I hope this directive gets some pushback from the apps especially WhatsApp because it is by far the most used messenger in India.
WhatsApp is from feckless Facebook. They’ll comply. They can’t afford to lose the market share and ad revenue - or so they’ll have you believe. Never underestimate the desperation of trillion dollar companies for more money.
I’m more worried about and for Signal.
Wishful thinking from me for sure but my reasoning for WhatsApp pushing back is that this would not solve the problem much while hampering UX but also make WhatsApp kind of accountable if anyone manages to bypass sim binding and Big Tech surely does not like being held accountable.
Off-topic
I would also like to point out that this is definitely an intermediate step towards restricting other messaging apps such as SimpleX which do not require phone numbers.
Yeah you’re probably right too. The company will do what’s in its interest and so will the government. Will have to see how this plays out.
Its only a matter of time. Best they can do is ban the app. But you can’t ban open source projects whose apps can be installed from outside of the app store.
This is similar to UPI apps used by Indians where AFAIK, you can’t use it without SIM card.
If you change or insert SIM, it is logged out. This is considered OK on the basis of financial security.
It is really invasive, because it uses “Phone” permission which will actively help whatsApp to know whom the user is speaking to via cellular. They already use the permission for WhatsApp calls. But this will make it so, app can’t be used at all.
The government thinks they can avoid scam, etc. Since, SIM card are linked to SSN and doing this will reduce scam.
Problem to the govt is, if people think “why should I bind” but most indians don’t. Until then complying will be smooth.
This is kind of similar to Age Verification, if this is done.
Government can force all SIM cards to be linked to all online account. This is the base, for Age verification dystopia.
Already mobile OS and apps are privacy invasive. Now they are using the UPI solution for age verification slowly.
The only thing would be the service provider won’t need to store this and get data breach similar to discord. Just phone number that is bind to account which becomes inaccessible on removal of SIM card or “Phone permission”
Similar to EFF in US, Internet Freedom Foundation & Software Freedom Law Center - in India. Tag them in. Cuz I think what I thought in forms of conspiracy might become reality.
BIF represents Meta, Google, WhatsApp and others.
sorry for ignorant question but don’t these apps already ONLY work with Sim cause need verification code? Or does this only mean that the apps will no longer work AT ALL if no sim is ALWAYS present in the device at all times?
The real reason for the government to want this is not what they’re publicly saying but it is to keep track of all people with smartphones with this app on their data and information and their activities.
It is important to not lose sight of the fact that this is spyware, designed to erode and eliminate your privacy and weaken security for their own gains. It is also important to know that the government exists to protect and bolster themselves, not the citizens (as much they’d like you to believe they are for the people first).
Focusing on this app and the rational the government is explaining is misdirection. Now you know more.
Yes, that is correct. The government wants the apps to only work while the SIM card is present in the device.
I understand but you didn’t answer my question. Anyway @falcon did so thanks.
I wanted you to know of the context equally. Also, it wasn’t clear to me of what exactly you were asking. Grammar and sentence structure threw me off a bit.
Oh my bad. No worries all good 
Cellular Operators Association of India commends Department of Telecom for the directive.
Ofcourse the telcos want to keep tracking the users in the name of “national security” and “cyber fraud prevention” which by the way is a problem that arose from their own incompetency.
Thanks for keeping track and continuing to share news on this.
The idiocy of telcos however is not surprising too, though I wish they didn’t have a spine of a gummy bear from the get go. But this is so on brand for India now. If no one was keeping track, it really is on track to become a hyper surveillance & Orwellian state that would rival that of Russia, NSA, China and the likes.
I wish we could call it idocy but it is not. This is malice and there is no debating it.
I would say it already is to a lot of extent. They are just plugging the remaining holes.
Well, yes. That too. Synonyms in my book in this context. I present to you Hanlon’s razor.
They try. The current ruling party does something, there’s a public outcry, and then they dial it down. It’s sometimes just to guage the temperature of said idiocy to see what they can get away with.