Korean Media: India Demands Smartphones' Source Code, Samsung and Apple Express Strong Opposition!
On February 5, the Korean newspaper "Seoul Economic Daily" published an article stating that the Indian government is pushing to strengthen security measures, requiring global smartphone manufacturers such as Apple and Samsung Electronics to submit "source code," and the industry has expressed strong opposition.
According to Reuters, the Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology recently proposed a series of security measures to smartphone manufacturers, including source code sharing and obligations for software modifications. The "telecom security measures" proposed by the Indian government include 83 items, with the core being that manufacturers must submit source code to government-designated research institutions for security vulnerability testing.
The most controversial part is the mandatory submission of source code. Source code is the basic programming instructions for smartphones, which contain the core technology of the product. Therefore, smartphone manufacturers have very strict protection over their source code.
The Indian Information Technology Manufacturers Association (MAIT), representing companies such as Apple, Samsung Electronics, Google, and Xiaomi, stated in a document drafted at the government's request, "Sharing source code is impossible due to corporate confidentiality and privacy policies." They also emphasized that "no major country, including the EU, North America, Australia, and Africa, has such requirements."
In addition to source code, the regulatory plan also includes some controversial requirements. The Indian government requires the removal of all pre-installed applications, prohibits the use of cameras and microphones in the background, mandates the retention of system logs for 12 months on devices, and requires regular automatic malware scans. Industry insiders pointed out, "Devices do not have enough space to store logs for a year, and continuous malware scanning will significantly shorten battery life." They also believe that given the urgency of addressing security threats, requiring notification to the government and testing before deploying major software updates or security patches is unrealistic.
With the number of smartphone users in India reaching 750 million, incidents of online fraud and data breaches have surged. The government led by Prime Minister Modi has been pushing to strengthen cybersecurity. K. Krishnan, Secretary of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, said, "We will consider the reasonable concerns of the industry with an open mind, and it is too early to interpret this too much at this stage."
Currently, Xiaomi (19%) and Samsung Electronics (15%) dominate the Indian smartphone market, followed by Apple (5%). The Indian government and tech industry executives plan to hold further talks, but there are differences on this sensitive issue of submitting source code, so the possibility of further conflicts cannot be ruled out.
Original: toutiao.com/article/1856285093979148/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author alone.