Apple refuses to approve govt's anti-spam app, says it violates privacy policy: TRAI

Technology giant Apple has refused to approve the government’s anti-spam iPhone app, infuriating the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), reported Bloomberg.

According to the report, the telecom authority of India has been unsuccessfully trying to get its ‘Do Not Disturb’ software into Apple’s App Store.

The program, that TRAI wants to be included in the App Store, allows people to share spam call and text messages logs with the agency, which uses the data retrieved to alert mobile operators block spammers.

In response, Apple has dismissed TRAI’s plans saying the idea, on which the app is based upon, violates firm’s privacy policy.

“Nobody’s asking Apple to violate its privacy policy,” said Ram Sewak Sharma, chairman of the TRAI told Bloomberg. “It is a ridiculous situation, no company can be allowed to be the guardian of a user’s data,” he added.

The standoff could affect Apple’s plans to expand in India, Bloomberg said, at a time when it is looking to sell 50 crore smartphones in the country by 2020 and is in discussion with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to open retail stores and secure permissions to sell used iPhones across the county.