GoI Wants To Pre-Install Aadhaar App, Smartphone Makers Unsure, Experts Say It Adds Little Value

New Delhi: A quiet but significant disagreement is emerging between the Indian government and global smartphone manufacturers over a proposal to pre-install the Aadhaar app, which was launched in January this year, on mobile devices. The suggestion, put forward earlier this year, has met resistance from major tech firms, setting off renewed debate about the role of state-backed digital services on personal devices.

The proposal arose from the conversations of officials from the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) as well as with various businesses, who have been informally encouraged to consider how they could embed the Aadhaar application into smartphones prior to selling them. The government’s position is that such a move would improve accessibility, allowing users to easily access identity-related services without needing to download the application separately.

Cyber law expert Karnika A Seth defended Aadhaar’s framework, saying it is “encrypted and compliant with India’s legal framework”. She also said, “Since Aadhaar is encrypted, it is secure and as Aadhaar is one of the most accepted means of verification, it is both secure and convenient for users. KYC verification through Aadhaar is a secure method of authentication, even prescribed under extant IT laws in India under the Second Schedule of the IT Act, 2000.”

Others remain unconvinced about the need for pre-installation. Saakshar Duggal, an expert in AI governance and law, noted that India already has a highly mature app ecosystem. “At a conceptual level, preloading the Aadhaar app may appear to enhance convenience. But in reality, it adds very limited incremental value for Indian users. India already has one of the highest app adoption ecosystems in the world. Citizens who need Aadhaar services are already downloading and using it voluntarily. Forcing pre-installation does not meaningfully improve access, as it merely shifts control from user choice to system design," he said.

Aadhaar, the country’s biometric identification system, is already widely used across India for services ranging from banking verification to telecom connections. According to those supporting the deeper integration of the Aadhaar app into smartphones, this would help streamline these processes and further enable the government’s broader goal to implement digital public infrastructure throughout India.

However, industry representatives have raised various issues. Smartphone manufacturers have stated that requiring them to pre-install the Aadhaar app could complicate the production of their devices, since many manufacturers produce devices for multiple global markets; creating a unique version of each device for India would increase costs and disrupt supply chains.

Others have expressed concerns about the effects of a pre-installed application on the performance of the device and available storage capacity, as well as on the end user's overall experience with the device.

Rajesh Pant, Chairman at Cyber Security Association of India and former National Cybersecurity Coordinator told ETV Bharat, “Government should ensure that preinstalled version is malware free. Also if user wants he can delete it. Then it would be acceptable as some versions from App Stores are questionable.”

Security and liability continue to be more than significant concerns for manufacturers who have opposed this action. With Aadhaar linked to sensitive biometric information like fingerprints, manufacturers remain apprehensive about the potential risks associated with embedding the app directly to the operating system (OS) of the smartphone.

Additionally, manufacturers are concerned about past instances of data leakage and cyber-attacks, as well as other similar situations that have resulted in security breaches and are below the standard of what is expected of a secure platform. However, the Indian government has assured all manufacturers that Aadhaar is secure.

While the above issues are predominantly national, they do raise international concerns as well. Few countries require government applications to be pre-installed, so most manufacturers are concerned about providing a platform for similar future requests in other countries.