India, Dec. 3 -- Jyotiraditya Scindia, the minister of communications, said on Tuesday that the Sanchar Saathi cybersecurity app, which a previous directive to mobile phone makers said must be pre-installed on phones, can be deleted by users if they so wish.

The clarification came after widespread criticism of the move by digital rights activists and politicians, after some reports of the directive said the app could not be removed. To be sure, HT's report cited unnamed department of telecommunications (DoT) officials, and said that the app could be deleted by users.

"This is a completely voluntary and democratic system-users may choose to activate the app and avail its benefits, or if they do not wish to, they can easily delete it from...