Amid privacy concerns raised by various quarters about Aarogya Setu, Government's digital platform to track Covid-19 patients, the Centre on Monday sought to allay fears saying that it is "completely safe" and it has been ensured that user data are not compromised.
Ajay Sahni, Chairman of Empowered Group 9, said at a press briefing here that “Aarogya Setu app has been downloaded in 9.8 crore smartphones so far. It will be available on Jio feature smartphones from tomorrow. We've worked a lot on data privacy of Aarogya Setu users & made sure that user data are not compromised.”
Recently a French hacker had unearthed one too many privacy issues with the app, causing apprehension about citizens’ privacy.
Countering the claims, Sahni said that the App has been developed to formulate health responses that "not only contain the epidemic but also protect the health and safety of the community at large."
These health responses require data of individuals for the management of the Covid-19 pandemic, syndromic mapping, contact tracing, and communication between them.
“The Aarogya Setu is designated to carry out most of these responses and needs confidential information of individuals. The information includes travel history, device information, location data, contact data, demography, and self-assessment data, which is collected by the app only after the user has permitted it.”
The officer said that no data would be retained beyond the period as deemed necessary to fulfil the purposes. At maximum, the contact, location, and self-assessment data should be "permanently" erased after 180 days from the day they were recorded by the app. However, the demographic data could still be retained by NIC for as long as the Protocol related to the covid-19 pandemic remains into effect.