India drops proposal to make smartphone brands pre-install unique ID app Aadhaar on their devices

Last month, Reuters reported that the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) - a statutory authority under the Indian government's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) - had privately proposed in January that smartphone makers be required to pre-install its Aadhaar app on their devices. Now, Reuters reports that the Indian government has dropped the proposal following security and cost concerns raised by the smartphone brands. The Aadhaar app contains the Aadhaar card details of an Indian resident, including a 12-digit unique identification number, birth...