Congress leader Sonia Gandhi (L) and President Mallikarjun Kharge.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: Opposition on Tuesday pounded on the government over the Sanchar Saathi App issue with Congress calling it yet another attempt by the BJP to strangulate the voice of the people and is akin to dictatorship.
The Opposition criticism continued even as Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said users are free to delete the app and it will remain dormant till they register on it after his Ministry told smartphone makers to preload the state-run cybersecurity app on all new devices.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said "snooping, surveilling, scanning and peeping to confiscate, control, command and monetise" citizen's rights is the hallmark of BJP's "tyrannical" regime.
"Sanchar Saathi app is yet another addition to the long list of attempts by the BJP to strangulate the voice of the people. The Modi government's unilateral directions to preload this app without taking into confidence various stakeholders and citizens is akin to dictatorship. Why does the Govt want to know what citizens talk with their family and friends?" he said.
"No wonder, the Modi government had vehemently opposed making citizen's privacy to be declared as a Fundamental Right in the Supreme Court. Democracy perishes. The dystopian era flourishes," he said.
Senior Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi called the App a "snooping app" and said, "citizens have the right to privacy. Everyone must have the right to privacy to send messages to family and friends without the government looking at everything."
AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal said the government decision to install the App on phones is a "brazen attack" on individual privacy and liberty and no democracy in the world has ever attempted to do so.
"The notification issued by the government has no mention of seeking individual consent to install the app or providing the option to delete it at any time. AAP condemns such gross dictatorial actions and demands immediate withdrawal of the notification," he said.
CPI(M) Rajya Sabha floor leader John Brittas shot off a letter to Scindia warning that compulsory pre-installation, even if deletion is later permitted, undermines the very principle of informed consent and transforms the mobile phone into a potential instrument of continuous digital supervision.
Questioned the "logic of forced embedding if the app is truly optional", he said a large section of users, especially elderly and digitally less-literate citizens, will be unable to uninstall pre-loaded applications, effectively making the app permanent by default. He also expressed concern over the widespread apprehension that background data collection may begin from the moment of pre-installation and could persist even after uninstallation.
Senior Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said making anything compulsory in a democracy is troubling and asserted that the government should explain to the public instead of just passing an order.
"I have not studied the issue in detail but common sense tells me that these apps can be useful provided they are voluntary. Everyone who needs them should be able to download them," he said.
Congress General Secretary and senior MP Randeep Surjewala said, "Is it the official Pegasus or akin to the Redflag App of North Korea on every cellphone? India is now a 'Surveillance State'? India will now be a 'Police State'? Right to Privacy; Personal Space are now officially dead."