Central to the charter is Digikavach, Google’s anti‑fraud programme launched in 2023
Google has today rolled out a sweeping new Safety Charter in India, aimed at shielding users from growing online fraud, bolstering cyber‑defences and setting standards for responsible artificial intelligence.
Announced at the “Safer with Google India” summit, the initiative represents a strategic, India‑focused blueprint for digital safety. Google said its AI‑powered safeguards helped prevent nearly ₹13,000 crore in financial fraud in 2024, including issuing over 41 million alerts on UPI payments via Google Pay and blocking around 60 million risky app installs through Play Protect.
Central to the charter is Digikavach, Google’s anti‑fraud programme launched in 2023. The service has already protected over 130 million devices, blocking some 60 million high‑risk app download attempts, triggered on‑device fraud warnings and filtered billions of phishing links.
Cloud‑based defences have been similarly effective: Google Search now detects scam websites twenty‑fold more effectively, impersonation attacks on government or customer service sites have dropped by over 70–80 per cent, and Google Messages blocks around 500 million scam texts monthly.
Beyond protecting individuals, the charter seeks to fortify the digital infrastructure of businesses and government. Google’s Project Zero and DeepMind teams have employed AI to uncover hidden vulnerabilities in widely‑used software like SQLite. Moreover, the company has pledged US$20 million in its APAC Cybersecurity Fund and announced a collaboration with IIT‑Madras to develop post‑quantum cryptographic systems to secure tomorrow’s digital interactions.
On the AI front, Google is refining its SynthID watermarking—now applied to over 10 billion AI‑generated images—and testing models across 29 Indic languages via its IndicGenBench programme to ensure inclusivity and safety in non‑English contexts.
Speaking at the summit, Preeti Lobana, Google India’s vice‑president and country manager, emphasised that “trust … is the connective tissue of India’s digital economy” Heather Adkins, Google’s global VP of security engineering, noted that India’s vast and dynamic digital ecosystem offers unique insight into evolving cyber threats, suggesting that strategies developed here could benefit users globally.
Adkins also warned that while generative AI poses new risks—such as enhanced phishing and deepfake scams—it is equally vital for building advanced defences. She added that rising geopolitical tensions may fuel state‑sponsored cyberattacks, reinforcing the need for robust digital security.
Why it matters
As India witnesses exponential growth in digital adoption and UPI transactions, the scale of online fraud—estimated to leap to ₹20,000 crore in 2025 if unchecked—has made trust a critical issue.
Google’s charter adopts a multi‑pronged strategy: face‑value protections (like scam alerts and app screening), industry‑level cyber hygiene (via threat‑sharing and quantum‑ready cryptography), and ethical AI deployment—all embedded into local languages and low‑end devices.
It also reflects a broader shift: global tech platforms increasingly see India not merely as a user base, but as a laboratory for scalable digital safety solutions.
