Hyderabad: AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Tuesday attacked the Centre over the Sanchar Saathi App, which the smartphone makers have been asked to mandatorily pre-install on their devices, alleging it is another one of the Narendra Modi government’s efforts to destroy citizen privacy and put Indians at risk.

The Hyderabad MP in a post on ‘X’ said: “#SancharSaathiApp is another one of Modi govt’s efforts to destroy citizen privacy & put Indians at risk. The fact that the circular wasn’t even made public reflects poorly on the govt. Making the app mandatory and unremovable would make each one of our devices susceptible to govt snooping.”

Days after his ministry told smartphone makers to preload a state-run cybersecurity app on all new devices, Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Tuesday said users are free to delete the Sanchar Saathi app, and it will remain dormant till they register on it.

“If you want to delete it, then delete it,” Scindia told reporters outside Parliament in Delhi. “But not everyone in the country knows that this app exists to protect them from fraud and theft.”