New Delhi: Coronavirus tracking app ‘Aarogya Setu’ is ‘secure’ and there is no privacy breach in it. This was disclosed by Union IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad here Wednesday. He rejected charges that it was a ‘sophisticated surveillance system’ that was leveraged to track citizens without their consent.
What others said
The government’s assertion also came a day after French hacker and cyber security expert Elliot Alderson made some disclosures. They claimed that ‘a security issue has been found’ in the app. So ‘privacy of 90 million Indians is at stake’ they said.
Statement of IT Ministry
The app has been described as a a ‘prominent preventive measure’ in India’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. An official IT Ministry release said close to nine crore users have downloaded it as May 4.
The mobile application is used by the government for contact tracing. It is also used for disseminating medical advisories to users in order to contain the spread of COVID-19.
“This (Aarogya Setu app) is a technological invention of India. It is a perfectly accountable platform to help in the fight against COVID-19. It is safe and secure. The data is in an encrypted form. Most importantly, it is for the safety of Indians. It cautions you in the event there is a COVID-infected person in your vicinity,” asserted Prasad.
Last week, the Centre made it mandatory for government and private sector employees to use Aarogya Setu mobile application. The Union Home Ministry has also said the mobile app will be a must for people living in COVID-19 containment zones.
In praise of Aarogya Setu app
Prasad said the mobile application also helps tracing contacts in the event a person is infected.
“It is a very robust invention of technology and many other countries are using similar applications to fight COVID-19. And the second most important point is that the data is limited. Routine data remains for 30 days and in the event you are infected, then (for) 45 to 60 days. Then automatically it will vanish,” explained Prasad.
“There is always an option to scratch the app out of the phone or uninstall it. Then what is this ‘hangama’ (rukus) all about? The country has understood its utility and has willingly accepted it,” he added.
PTI
