India, Jan. 24 -- The Indian government does not want your data. It wants something more consequential. It wants to look under the hood of the device that never leaves your hand - your phone. The outcome? A standoff between the government and global smartphone makers. It is being described as a technical disagreement over source code. That description is soothing-and misleading.

This is not about some lines of software. It is about whether the state intends to supervise the behaviour of technology, or insert itself into its design. According to Reuters, the government is considering mobile security standards that would require phone makers to store phone device logs for up to a year, notify authorities before major software updates, subm...