Out in the Open: On the Implementation of Mobile App Filtering in India

In this paper, we present the first comprehensive study highlighting the evolving mobile app filtering within India. We study the recent mobile app blocking in India and describe in detail the mechanics involved. We analyzed 220 Chinese apps that were blocked due to official government orders. Our research reveals a novel “three-tiered” app filtering scheme, with each tier increasing the sophistication of filtering. After thoroughly analyzing the app blocking mechanisms, we present circumvention techniques to bypass the tiered app filtering. We were able to access all the blocked apps with the said techniques. We believe our analysis and findings from the case study of India will aid future research on mobile app filtering.