Amid privacy concern, govt may curb collection of data by apps – Times of India

NEW DELHI: The government is understood to be looking at prohibiting mobile applications from collecting user information beyond their area of functioning, the move coming in the backdrop of concerns around data handling and user privacy, including at the hands of American internet giants Facebook and WhatsApp and scores of top international and Chinese apps, reports Pankaj Doval.
Sources told TOI the Centre has begun work on a policy that would stop mobile and internet apps to collect information that is “not necessary” for their functioning.
The government is going to have a “policy on preburning/pre-loading of apps on mobile phones”, sources said, adding that the concerns arose as “many of these apps are installed on mobile phones without the consent of the user”.
In fact, the importance of user consent and illegal harvesting of data is something that has increasingly been getting resonance within various echelons of the government, including finding prominent positions in the data protection bill, which is currently tabled in Parliament.
Sources said like push email, the government is also working on areas to stop push apps which are advertised by handset manufacturers. Most of the measures, sources say, are being taken in view of concerns around the data protection of millions of users.
The unauthorised collection of data has been flagged off even previously by the government, especially as many apps tend to take data which is not even remotely connected to their utility. The government feels that after the Covid outbreak and work and study from home situations, humongous amount of data is moving online, right from education of students, to businesses and offices, to social media and internet conversations.
“There are increasing number of instances of cyber-attacks, phishing, and even data thefts at the hands of some of the well-known and larger internet apps,” a source said.