Aarogya Setu, the contact-tracing app the government has been pushing in its fight against coronavirus, may be made mandatory for all citizens amid concerns expressed by experts about privacy and surveillance. In discussions to renew its push for more and more users, the government is debating whether it can make the app a must.
Sources say the government is internally discussing options like making the mass detail gathering application mandatory for people to use government services or for flights and metros. No decision has been taken.
Aarogya Setu – “health bridge” in Sanskrit – evaluates the chances of the user contracting the COVID-19 infection based on location, medical and travel history. It uses Bluetooth and location services to trace a user’s contacts.
So far, the government has been pushing users to download the app to protect themselves from coronavirus. Recently, government employees were ordered to download the app and check it before coming to work.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also urged citizens to download the app in his speeches. The government is planning a mass campaign to pitch the Aarogya Setu and address concerns expressed by many on the privacy of the user, who has to key in details like foreign travel and health history while downloading the app and give access to the phone’s Bluetooth and GPS (location) tracking.
Sources say the government intends to communicate to people that the tracking data that will be downloaded by the app will “self-destruct”.
According to industry estimates, India has over 50 crore smartphone users, a figure that is projected to rise to 80 crore by 2022. The government has already achieved its goal of five crore downloads of Aarogya Setu.
It is believed that the government now wants to work towards an ambitious target of close to 25 to 30 crore downloads of the app.
India has more than 35,000 coronavirus cases, including 1,147 deaths.
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