The Indian government is currently evaluating a contentious proposal from the telecom industry that could mandate smartphone manufacturers to enable always-on satellite-based location tracking for enhanced surveillance. This move has triggered strong opposition from global tech giants Apple, Google, and Samsung, who cite severe privacy risks, according to internal documents, emails, and sources familiar with the matter.
The Core of the Controversy: Always-On A-GPS
This debate follows closely on the heels of another privacy firestorm. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government was recently compelled to withdraw an order that would have forced smartphone makers to pre-install a government cyber safety app after activists and politicians flagged potential snooping concerns.
The current push stems from a long-standing concern within security agencies. When making legal requests during investigations, authorities often receive only approximate location data from telecom operators, derived from cellular tower triangulation, which can be inaccurate by several meters.
To solve this, The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), representing major carriers Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, has put forward a significant proposal. In a June internal email within the federal IT ministry, the COAI suggested that precise user location data should be furnished only if the government orders smartphone companies to activate Assisted GPS (A-GPS) technology. This technology combines satellite signals with cellular data for pinpoint accuracy.
The critical catch in this proposal is that it would require the smartphone's location services to be permanently activated, with users having no option to disable this function.
Global Tech Titans Raise the Alarm
This potential mandate has met with fierce resistance from leading device and platform makers. Apple, Samsung, and Alphabet's Google have formally communicated their objections to the Indian government, as confirmed by three sources with direct knowledge of the discussions.
The India Cellular & Electronics Association (ICEA), a lobbying group that counts both Apple and Google among its members, issued a stern warning in a confidential July letter to the government. The letter, reviewed by Reuters, stated that a measure to track location at the device level "has no precedent anywhere else in the world."
The ICEA argued that the A-GPS network service is not designed or supported for surveillance purposes and called the proposed measure "a regulatory overreach." They emphasized significant "legal, privacy, and national security concerns" with the telecom industry's plan.
Implications and a Divided Industry
The stakes are enormous in India, the world's second-largest mobile market with approximately 735 million smartphone users as of mid-2025, where Android powers over 95% of devices.
Technology experts explain that leveraging A-GPS—typically used only for specific apps or emergency calls—could allow authorities to track a user's location to within about a meter. Junade Ali, a digital forensics expert with Britain's Institution of Engineering and Technology, starkly warned, "This proposal would see phones operate as a dedicated surveillance device."
The ICEA's letter further highlighted that the user base at risk includes military personnel, judges, corporate executives, and journalists, whose security could be compromised if their sensitive locations were tracked.
The telecom operators, however, present their own challenges. They point out that even the existing, less precise method of location tracking is becoming ineffective. Smartphone makers now display a pop-up alert informing users that their "carrier is trying to access your location," which the COAI says allows a surveillance target to easily know they are being tracked. The telecom group has urged the government to order phone makers to disable these pop-up features.
Unsurprisingly, Apple and Google's lobby group has argued vehemently against this as well, stating that privacy must be paramount and that such pop-ups "ensure transparency and user control over their location."
As of now, no final policy decision has been made by the IT or home ministries. A scheduled high-level meeting between the government and smartphone industry executives was postponed, indicating the sensitivity of the discussions. The outcome will shape the future of digital privacy and state surveillance in one of the world's largest democracies.
