The iPhone maker and TRAI have been locking heads over control of call records.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and Apple are entering into a new dimension with their tussle over DND (Do not Disturb) app. The regulatory body has put its foot down and has clearly stated to the premier technology and phone company that it better comply. TRAI has announced that it intends to stop the telecom networks to provide service to Apple iPhones. Apple on the other hand has clearly informed TRAI that it’s overstepping on user privacy and that it doesn’t intend to sell user privacy for the sake of regulatory compliance.
Why does TRAI need access to all call logs?
This strong message has been put out as TRAI looks to curb the menace of pesky promotional calls and messages that have angered mobile users in the country for a long time, says TRAI. The DND app is already available on Android but has found it hard to launch on iOS. Apple though, has a clear policy not only in India but even in the US to protect user privacy.
One might wonder how user privacy is affected by DND app. The DND app asks permissions to access all call logs and message records which Apple has provided to absolutely no one till date. This also seems like a sinister way to collect all call logs by TRAI which is unnecessary. The current approach by apps like Trucaller on iOS should be sufficient to receive spam information if that is what the government wants. The Cupertino-based tech giant has repeatedly shown its commitment to user data privacy and this is another example of it sticking to its stand.
TRAI Regulation - The Law
TRAI is also one of the few telecom bodies in the world to have openly stated its point of view about net neutrality, and how India will chart out its own policies in this regard. But coming back to the Apple issue at hand, TRAI’s new regulations highlight that telecom operators need to ensure all devices on their networks have installed the DND 2.0 app, or else face the consequences.
Every Access Provider shall ensure, within six months’ time, that all smart phone devices registered on its network support the permissions required for the functioning of such Apps as prescribed in the regulations 6(2)(e) and regulations 23(2)(d).
Provided that where such devices do not permit functioning of such Apps as prescribed in regulations 6(2)(e) and regulations 23(2)(d), access providers shall, on the order or direction of the authority, derecognize such devices from their telecom networks.
The worry is, if handset makers including Apple don’t comply, the devices will stop working on India-centric networks, as they will be de-recognised.
With the DND 2.0 app, TRAI wants to ensure the days of pesky telemarketing calls to users comes to an end. This app is supposed to detect such calls or messages and help TRAI collect data on who is sending them and for what purpose. Accessing all this data would go through on Android without any qualms, especially with Google wanting to be on the right side of the Indian government.
Apple, on the other hand, has been stubborn in its approach to protect user privacy, and has decided that the DND 2.0 app is asking for a lot of user information, which it can’t allow a third-party app to access on its devices.
How other spam call apps work on iPhone?
Trucaller, the most popular app works in the background and identifies calls if they’ve been marked as spam by other users. This has been very effective in detecting spam calls without ever releasing all our call logs to the third party.
What’s right?
What TRAI is asking is to release all the call logs to it and then identify the spam callers which is definitely high handed when it comes to user privacy as it has an upper hand on data where it can access anyone’s call records freely. Users can easily mark themselves off spam callers by using apps like Truecaller which identify the calls as spam from the background. And this way should suffice for the regulatory authority to identify spam callers if that is their intent. There’s no requirement for device makers or the users to actually give access to all the call logs to the DND app.