The Indian government is reviewing a telecom industry proposal to ask smartphone firms to enable satellite location tracking that is always activated for better surveillance. This move, however, is opposed by Apple, Google and Samsung due to privacy concerns. A fierce privacy debate erupted this week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government was forced to withdraw an order requiring smartphone makers to preload the state-run cyber safety app – Sanchar Saathi on all devices after activists and politicians raised concerns about potential snooping.

For years, the Modi administration has been concerned that its agencies do not get precise locations when legal requests are made to telecom firms during investigations. Under the current system, the firms are limited to using cellular tower data that can only provide an estimated area location, which can be off by several meters.

The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), which represents Reliance's Jio and Bharti Airtel has proposed that precise user locations should only be provided if the government orders smartphone makers to activate A-GPS technology - which uses satellite signals and cellular data, according to a June internal federal IT ministry email.

This would require location services to always be activated in smartphones with no option for users to disable them.

Apple and Alphabet's Google have, however, stated that this move should not be mandated. A measure to track device-level location has no precedent anywhere else in the world, lobbying group India Cellular & Electronics Association (ICEA), which represents both Apple and Google, wrote in a confidential July letter to the government, which was viewed by Reuters.