People Are Losing Control Over Mobile Phones Raises Security & Privacy Concerns

Context

Mobile Phones have evolved into a crucial companion for the majority, yet a growing number of users are experiencing addiction and losing their grip on phone usage.

Evolution of the Internet

• Operation of Internet: The Internet was meant to operate in a distributed manner, allowing individual devices to establish service connections without centralized control.
• Rise in Information Exchange: Because of the Internet’s decentralized structure, services such as emails, websites, and chats grew in popularity, encouraging information exchange and e-commerce.
• Absence of Gatekeepers: In the entire design of the network layer, there were no gatekeepers except for very basic functionality such as allocation of Internet Protocol addresses and root servers for resolving top-level domains like .com, .org, and .net. 
• Development of Search Engines: Yahoo initially provided the website directories, but as the number of sites increased, Google’s search engine became more popular for efficient navigation.

Ceding Control OF Mobile Phones

• Advent of Mobile Phones: With the introduction of mobile devices, website optimisation for handheld screens became necessary.
• Distribution of Third-Party Apps: Application stores facilitated the distribution of third-party native apps, resulting in improved user experiences.
  • However, native apps created security issues owing to direct machine access, forcing Google to launch the Native Client sandbox programme in 2009.

Web Standards vs. Native Apps

• Concerns regarding Native Apps: Native apps delivered immersive experiences, but they also created security and user privacy concerns, in contrast to the safer environment given by web standards.
• Benefit of Native Apps: Despite the security advantages of web browsers and JavaScript, businesses preferred native apps due to increased control and user engagement.
• Protests by Corporates: The app store model introduced app taxes, resulting in industry objections and antitrust lawsuits against dominant players such as Google and Apple.
  • Examples: Google lost its Play Store case against the Competition Commission of India, which ruled that Google is abusing its dominant position and fined it ₹1,337 crore.

A Raging Battle

• Conflict and Disagreements: Antitrust lawsuits and disagreements over app store policy illustrate the ongoing conflict between businesses and app store gatekeepers.
• Demand for Indian App stores: Despite legal battles, app retailers are hesitant to give up revenue from app taxes, which fuels demand for alternatives such as Indian app stores.
• Rethinking the Disadvantages: Users are asked to rethink the disadvantages of native apps, given Apple and Google’s dominance in the app market.

Conclusion

Users must assess the trade-offs between convenience and security, while acknowledging the influence of app store giants in influencing the digital landscape.

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