Twelve Smartphone Firms Respond To Govt Notice On Data Security
The Electronics and IT Ministry, last week had sent notices to 21 smartphone companies, with a majority of them Headquartered in China, asking them to outline the procedures and processes adopted by them to ensure security and privacy of users data. Soon after, nine more companies, including Motorola, Honor, Asus, OnePlus, InFocus, were added to that list.
The latest update states that a total of twelve companies including HTC, Xiaomi,Vivo, Huawei and Lenovo, have responded to the notice, while others like Samsung, Oppo, Sony, etc. have acknowledged and requested an extension. The ministry official said that agreeing to the requests, the government is likely to extend the deadline for submitting the details of the data security procedures.
Apple confirmed in an email, that the iPhone maker has sent its response to the ministry and a Vivo official stated that the company has replied to the government notice.
The ministry officials said that the 30 smartphone makers were asked to share security information to ensure that required data security measures were being taken. To support their claims, the IT ministry had cited international and domestic reports regarding data leaks from mobile phones.
Based on the response of the companies, the ministry will initiate verification and audit of devices where required. If a company fails to provide the information, the said firm will face charges and levy penalty for violation of security norms under provisions of IT Act 43 (A).
