October 4, 2024, New Delhi: After the explosion of pagers in Lebanon, media reports indicate that India is likely to soon operationalize its orders on sourcing of CCTV cameras, smart meters, parking sensors, drone parts and even laptops and desktops only from trusted locations. Early this year in March and April, the government had issued two separate gazette notifications. One pertained to 'Make in India' guidelines for surveillance cameras, and another was on the criteria for CCTV certification.

The notifications were targeted at weeding out China based vendors from the supply chains of all forms of surveillance equipment, according to media reports. In the past, government has taken steps to protect citizens by banning scores of Chinese apps and products for containing spy ware. The attempt is also to promote use of products made in India. In fact, last year in July, cyber security analysts at mobile cyber security company, Pradeo, reported that two apps on Google Play were found with spyware sending data to dubious servers based in China. Over the years, some of the developed countries have stopped the use of Chinese-made surveillance cameras at sensitive buildings, citing security risks.

Recently, the Biden administration has proposed new rules that would in effect prohibit Chinese-made vehicles from US roads after a months-long investigation into software and digital connections that could be used to spy on Americans or sabotage the vehicles, The Guardian has reported. The move could mirror the long-running UK, US and European crackdown on Chinese telecom giant Huawei, fearing undue Chinese influence on infrastructure security. Huawei has accused the US and western allies of using the cover of national security to fend off competitive challenges.

Earlier, on November 25, 2022, the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had informed that it had adopted the final rules that bar the sale or import of equipment made by Chinese firms Dahua Technology, Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology and Hytera Communication. The US government has also banned import or sale of new communications equipment from China's Huawei Technologies and ZTE, citing national security threats. In recent years, Washington has taken multiple actions to build a more secure and resilient supply chain for communications equipment and services within the United States. In October last year, the Biden administration unveiled a sweeping set of export controls that ban Chinese companies from buying advanced chips and chip-making equipment without a license. The rule also restricts support for the "development or production" of chips at certain manufacturing facilities in China.

In India too, customs officials are reported to have launched search operations in 2022 after some fishing boats in Kerala were found to have Chinese Automatic Identification System-tracking devices installed, which gave wrong location of the vessel, thereby posing national security risk.

Through a nationwide survey, LocalCircles sought to find out the magnitude of Indian households that are using made in China devices that could pose risk of snooping or surveillance. The survey received over 24,000 responses from household consumers located in 323 districts of India. 64% respondents were men while 36% respondents were women. 43% respondents were from tier 1, 35% from tier 2 and 22% respondents were from tier 3, 4 and rural districts.

79% Indian households surveyed have one or more Made in China products (mobile phones, laptops, refrigerators, car parts, LED bulbs, etc.) which could pose risk of spying or surveillance

Being cheaper than competitive phones with same or fewer features, Chinese phones are greatly in demand despite the government having issued several advisories against use of some of the Chinese apps. The survey first asked, “How many Made in China electronics/ electrical products do you have at your home?” The question received 11,051 responses. The survey data revealed that 79% Indian households have one or more Made in China products (mobile phones, laptops, refrigerators, car parts, LED bulbs, etc.) which could pose risk of spying or surveillance. Breakdown of data reveals that 25% of respondents have one or two Made in China gadgets; 21% have up to 5 such products; 4% have 6-10 such products; 2% have over 10 such products; 27% indicated they have Chinese products but have not counted how many. However, 21% of those surveyed indicated that they have “absolutely no Made in China electronics or electrical products at home”. To sum up, 79% Indian households surveyed have one or more Made in China products (mobile phones, laptops, refrigerators, car parts, LED bulbs, etc.) which could pose risk of spying or surveillance.

37% households use apps to track/ view data with the Made in China products they own

Over the years, Government of India has banned several Chinese apps on data safety concerns. The next survey question asked respondents, “Do any of the ‘Made in China’ devices you use, require you or your family to use an app for tracking / viewing data”. Out of 13,353 responses to this query 37% indicated “yes”; another 37% stated “no” and the remaining 26% were uncertain. In effect, over one third of the respondents have one or more Made in China products that use apps to track/ view data leading to increased risk of spying or surveillance. For example, a Chinese home surveillance camera installed in an Indian home requires the users to download an app which in most cases is taking home images/videos and storing them to a server in China and when the users wishes to retrieve an event the retrieval happens via this server located in China. Similarly, a Made in China air purifier installed in an Indian home can be started or shut via the app that the user must download. However the data in most cases are stored on a server located in China.

In summary, India would do well to take note of the incidences of spying / tracking in the US and other countries to discourage Made in China products that could have chips which can be used as spyware. As the LocalCircles survey has revealed, 79% households surveyed have one or more Made in China products that could be having such sensitive chips. Also, 37% households have confirmed that they are using apps to access these devices installed at their home and in many cases the data may be getting stored in China. This includes devices like home security cameras, air purifiers, fitness trackers and others. If some of the apps are storing or processing data of Indian users in China, it makes information, videos of many Indians vulnerable to snooping or surveillance by China. As a result, it is critical for India to take steps such that any Made in China devices sold in India must only be permitted to sell in India if the data pertaining to citizens of India (storage and processing) happens on a server in India. India must also work with entities like Apple and Google to establish controls such so that no data originating from India is sent to a server in China for storage or processing with all apps listed on appstore and playstore in India required to certify that they are not transmitting any user data to China.

Survey Demographics

The survey received over 24,000 responses from household consumers located in 323 districts of India. 64% respondents were men while 36% respondents were women. 43% respondents were from tier 1, 35% from tier 2 and 22% respondents were from tier 3, 4 and rural districts. The survey was conducted via LocalCircles platform. and all participants were validated citizens who had to be registered with LocalCircles to participate in this survey.