Apple’s refusal so far to approve India’s anti-spam iPhone app is infuriating regulators, potentially harming the company’s efforts to sell more products in the country.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has been trying unsuccessfully to get its Do Not Disturb software included in the App Store. The program lets people share spam call and text message logs with the agency, which uses the data to alert mobile operators to block the spammers.
The standoff could impact Apple’s efforts to expand in India, where half a billion smartphones will be sold by 2020. The Cupertino, California-based company has been in discussions with India’s government to open retail stores and secure permission to sell used iPhones imported into the country. Apple has put forth a long list of demands, including tax breaks and other concessions, to set up manufacturing facilities.
The regulator is currently seeking public and stakeholder comments on a consultative paper on users’ control over their personal information and rules on the flow of data through telecommunications networks. The process, scheduled to be completed in September, could eventually lead to new rules governing user data. That could also become part of the telecom licensing process, Ram Sewak Sharma, chairman of the Delhi-based telecom regulator informed an English daily.
Any new measures could affect not just Apple, but Facebook, Google and other technology companies that handle large amounts of private and personal information.
Sharma, who banned Facebook Inc.’s Free Basics internet access program last year, said there hasn’t been a resolution after half-a-dozen meetings with Apple. While Apple’s policy allows it to share user data with affiliates and strategic partners, the Indian government’s Do Not Disturb app only requires a limited, pre-approved level of data sharing, said Sharma, who has a degree in computer science from the University of California at Riverside. Apple’s policy states that sharing data with any other entity isn’t allowed.
By Baishakhi Dutta
