News Summary

• The Indian government is widening the scope of its anti-theft and cybersecurity initiative to cover both new and used smartphones.
• The move is aimed at curbing device theft and online fraud but is also raising fresh privacy concerns.
• The Indian telecom ministry is requiring companies that buy or trade used phones to verify every device through a central database of IMEI numbers.
• This comes in addition to a recent directive ordering smartphone manufacturers to preinstall the government’s Sanchar Saathi app on all new handsets.