Xiaomi has its servers in Singapore and the US.Another official highlighted the twin issues that the government is trying to address through its directive to the smartphone companies.The first is that the data being collected from users after their consent through apps is disproportional to what’s needed to enable such functions.“Some entities are getting far more data, which is being used for commercial monetisation purposes, which is wrong and needs to be solved,” the person said. The second is that of data gathered without authorisation and used outside the country, he said.The government’s directive on smartphones, coming amid heightened tension on the border with China, is part of a wider move to prevent any crippling cyberattacks that could be launched on the country’s telecom and power transmission sectors. Reports said India has also objected to Chinese firm Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group’s proposed $1.3 billion buyout of Gland Pharma. Besides that, India recently imposed antidumping duties on 93 Chinese products.“If the government finds any malicious activity from the information provided by handset makers, it may give them time to ensure security, by setting up servers in India. The Indian government has rules for banking, financial services and even telecom, where user data has to stay in the country,” said Jaipal Singh, senior analyst at IDC India.This though won’t be the first time that India has asked foreign companies to set up local servers.The telecom department had in 2008 asked Canadian smartphone maker BlackBerry to shift some of its servers to India to address concerns of security agencies that wanted to monitor emails.

Source: Economic Times August 17, 2017 19:18 UTC