On May 1, the Ministry of Home Affairs extended India’s lockdown by two weeks as part of its strategy to contaib the spread of the novel c...
On May 1, the Ministry of Home Affairs extended India’s lockdown by two weeks as part of its strategy to contaib the spread of the novel coronavirus. Since March 25, the government has made use of discretionary powers under The Disaster Management Act, 2005 to impose a nationwide lockdown.
One of the government’s key strategies against Covid-19 has been the adoption of contact tracing methods. This involves identifying, listing and monitoring people who have come in contact with infected persons to limit the spread of the coronavirus. Since April 2, the government has been enhancing its contact tracing capabilities by making use of data collected via a mobile phone app called Aarogya Setu.
Built by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and some volunteer groups under the guidance of the National Informatics Centre, the Aarogya Setu app uses GPS data and Bluetooth technology to determine the location of users and others they come in contact with. It collects personal data such as age, gender, name, health status, travel history, and the user’s contact list to assess the risk status of users and help health authorities manage the break out of the infection.
By Monday, the app had 98 million downloads, supposedly making it one of the fastest downloaded apps of all time.
Voluntary vs mandatory
Touted as a voluntary app, free...
