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India drafts rules to stop developer mode and side loading of apps

37 points| MthN | 3 years ago |egovstandards.gov.in

The Union IT Ministry has issued a draft guideline with instructions on not installing unnecessary apps on new mobile phones without the user's permission. When it comes into effect, the new phone will come with only basic apps like calling, messaging and gallery. Nowadays, many companies pre-install many apps with new phones. Most of these are self-updating and cannot be removed by the user. App developers also pay mobile manufacturers for this.

The new draft guidelines also stipulate that the user should be given a notice while collecting information over the phone. Consent must be sought when collecting personal information. The purpose of collecting the information and whether the data will be sent outside the country should also be specified.

∙ The phone's security system should prevent downloading apps from other than authorized app stores. (Currently this is allowed)

∙ App stores like Google Play are fully responsible for the security of apps

∙App stores must have company registration in India. There should be nodal officer and grievance redressal mechanism.

∙ Developers also need Indian registration if the app is for Indian users. If the app is international, the user should use it at his own risk.

∙ Mobile cloud service for users in India must use servers in India.

∙ 'Developer Mode', which allows app developers to make significant changes to the phone software, will be available only on sample phones.

17 comments

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[+] Bright_Machine|3 years ago|reply
The title is correct but linked article is incorrect. Here is the link to the correct article

http://egovstandards.gov.in/comments-on-mobile-security-guid...

The title is right according to the proposed rules. Indian government doesn't want their people to run programs they would want to on their own device bought with their own money, without getting it signed by Google/Apple.

Either the government is fooled by the word "sideloading" which truly means "freedom to run any code" but madeup in such a way that it means bypassing security of Android and iOS or the government doesn't like the fact that they cannot ban apps directly downloaded from web.

Indian government's rules are always "one step forward, ten steps backward"!

[+] rob74|3 years ago|reply
Ok, it's obvious why they want to restrict developer mode (because it would allow sideloading), but that's a sure fire way to cripple your mobile developers - I assume the "sample phones" expressly marketed for mobile developers would be rare and much more expensive than regular models...
[+] yewenjie|3 years ago|reply
The headline sounds user-hostile and the description reads completely opposite. Also, can we have some sources?
[+] capableweb|3 years ago|reply
Yeah, not sure if the submission URL is wrong. The relevant article for the headline seems to be "Draft on Mobile Security Guidelines (MSG)" (http://egovstandards.gov.in/comments-on-mobile-security-guid...) which does mention the following:

> Developer mode option should only be available on engineering sample phones only. Engineering sample phones shall be made available based on special request to the phone manufacturer

In "Draft on Guidelines for Anonymisation of Data (AoD)" I don't find any mentions of developer mode or side-loading at all.

[+] kdtsh|3 years ago|reply
Maybe it’s only for stock at the point of sale, and there’s no change to flashing your own ROM from a project like Lineage? If that’s the case this sounds excellent and a small price to pay. If not then it sounds like it would cripple the ability of users to use their own devices for anything except what is specified in this regulation.
[+] indianmouse|3 years ago|reply
They shoould ban the sale of knives in India. You know... It is a murder weapon and used to kill people!!

Useless people sitting at the top. Don't know any way to manage except for ban or kill...

[+] drraj32|3 years ago|reply
It would be nice if you read the source, and understand what is mentioned before going all knee-jerk about banning knives. Please quote the source where it says India is "banning" anything here.
[+] prnth|3 years ago|reply
It's technically like this already on iOS, you need a developer license from Apple to run developer apps on your device even to test.

And as an app developer that's why I daily drive my Android :)