Apple, Google Push Back Against Telecom Proposal Of ‘Always’ Tracking Your Smartphone Location

A new clash over user privacy is unfolding in India, after the world’s largest smartphone platforms pressed the issue with a proposal that calls for upping their ability to track the location of users across apps and online services within 50 metres. The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) proposed to the Indian government in June that sharing the real-time location of users should only be restricted to when smartphones are mandated to have tracking on all the time, according to a Reuters report.

The proposal is currently under review, and neither MeitY nor the Home Ministry has taken a final call. A stakeholders meeting, with telecom companies and device makers and others, could happen in the next few days. The development comes in the backdrop of resistance to the Department of Telecommunications’ Sanchar Saathi pre-installation directive, which was subsequently rescinded by the government.

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What COAI Is Proposing

COAI, which represents major telecom operators such as Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, has reportedly suggested integrating always-on satellite-based Assisted GPS (A-GPS) at the smartphone level. If implemented, this system would allow authorities to track a user’s location with metre-level accuracy.

Currently, telecom operators rely largely on cell tower triangulation to determine location. This method only provides a rough estimate of a user’s area. According to the report, COAI argues that A-GPS would significantly improve precision and help law enforcement agencies trace stolen devices, detect fraud, and conduct criminal investigations more effectively.

The proposal reportedly goes further by recommending that users should not be able to disable location tracking. It also seeks the removal of pop-up alerts that currently notify users when their location data is accessed by carriers. Supporters of the idea claim this would prevent suspects from being tipped off during investigations.

Why Smartphone Makers Are Objecting

The proposal has met strong resistance from Apple, Google and Samsung. Industry body India Cellular & Electronics Association (ICEA), which represents Apple and Google, is said to have sent a confidential letter to the government in July warning that such a mandate would be unprecedented globally.

Mandating such an always-on approach to location tracking would seriously debilitate user privacy and consent, according to the companies. They are understood to have expressed fears that loosening opt-out controls and alerts would put vulnerable groups at greater risk of surveillance — such as journalists, judges, politicians and defence personnel.

Manufacturers also contend that the proposal conflicts with international privacy standards and may be difficult to comply with for products sold overseas. The ultimate problem, they see, is that facilitating continuous tracking at the operating system level would compromise deep protections engineered into Android and iOS.

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Government Yet to Decide

So the government has made no official decision yet. A meeting between smartphone manufacturers and regulators was said to have been postponed, indicating that issues are not yet settled but still under discussion.

The issue underscores a budding conflict between security-driven policy objectives and technology design first focused on privacy. Coming off of recent backlash over Sanchar Saathi, any type of mandatory, always-on location tracking is likely to be met with fierce public scrutiny as well as legal and industry challenges.