In response to a Right to Information (RTI) request filed by MediaNama, the IT Ministry said that it has no information regarding any new mobile security guidelines. In March, Reuters reported that the Indian government is considering new mobile security rules that will force smartphone makers to allow: Uninstallation of pre-installed apps Screening of major operating system updates by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)-certified labs We covered the issues with this proposal here, but the IT Minister of State Rajeev Chandrasekhar immediately refuted the claims made by Reuters stating that the report was "based on lack of understanding [or] perhaps an unfettered creative imagination that is based on ongoing consultation process between Ministry and Industry on mobile security guidelines of BIS Standard IS17737 (Part-3) 2021." Following the above statement by the Minister, MediaNama filed an RTI with the IT Ministry asking if the Ministry is currently discussing new mobile security guidelines and if so, can the Ministry share: Any minutes of the meeting or notes from meetings held with smartphone manufacturers to discuss the guidelines The timeline for the introduction of such guidelines The IT Ministry forwarded our request to the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) and the Standardization, Testing and Quality Certification (STQC), who both separately replied as follows: STQC: "No information available" CDAC: "Identifiable details of the information have not been supplied. In the absence of the same no information can be fetched." The response from STQC and CDAC, and the lack of a direct response from the…
