The government has launched Aarogya Setu, a comprehensive app to track COVID-19 patients in the country.
The app is aimed to connect health services with the people to fight the COVID-19 outbreak and is available on both Android and iOS devices.
Aarogya Setu is different from the MyGov app and Corona Kavach app launched earlier by the government. It is also launched under the banner of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) in association with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MHFW).
Through the app, users can check whether they have been in contact with COVID-19 infected person by using location and bluetooth data from smartphones. The app requires a continuous access to the user smartphone’s and bluetooth location in order to figure out a person’s proximity to COVID-19 positive tested patient.
Aarogya Setu is available in 11 languages, including English, Hindi, Bangla and Marathi. Further, as per the app disclaimer, it does not allow users’ name and number to be disclosed to the public at large and only shares the data with the government.
However, questioning the privacy concerns of the users, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) added that there is no proof that such apps could significantly help in contact tracing efforts.
