Apple Gives in to TRAI Demand; Will Allow DND App to Report Spam Calls, Texts
Aug. 8, 2018Applehas finally relented in its battle against the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), and decided to fall in line with the agency’s demand to allow its controversial DND app access to user-info on iPhones.
The company is believed to haveinformed the regulatorabout the new feature that will be rolled out withiOS 12, and will allow users to report spam calls and texts through third-party apps.
TRAI even issued a circular last month, instructing mobile operators to shut down iPhones on their networks if Apple failed to comply with the regulations, although, many legal experts questioned the validity of that bizarre diktat.
The new spam-reporting functionality will reportedlybe a part of iOS 12 natively, with the companyupdating the documentationon its developer website earlier this year to reflect this change. The change“will make it easier to identify the spammers, and will make it smoother for users to report about violators to Trai or any other authority that has been earmarked”, according to sources quoted by ET.
Over the past couple of years, Apple and TRAI have been at loggerheads over the inclusion of the functionality that the regulator insists will help consumers tackle spam calls and texts, but Apple said will be a privacy nightmare. According to prior claims from the iPhone-maker, allowing any app such wide access to private data, including calls logs and messages, is a massive privacy-breach waiting to happen.
In case you’re interested in installing the DND app on you Android device, you can do so directlyfrom the Google Play Store, but do note that it has a lowly 2.6 rating with over 100,000 installs.
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