Indian National Congress’ former leader Rahul Gandhi called Aarogya Setu App as a sophisticated surveillance system that is outsourced to private operator with no institutional oversight. He raised questions over the app’s data safety and privacy. Rahul said “Technology can help keep us safe, but fear must not be leveraged to track citizens without consent”
Cabinet Minister for Communications, Electronics & Information Technology and Law & Justice, Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Wednesday that Aarogya Setu app is absolutely robust, safe and secure.
He pointed out that the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, National Informatics Centre, Niti Aayog and private entities are involved in the make of this application. He added that the app is a technological invention of India and it is a perfectly accountable platform to help in the fight against COVID-19.
He said that other countries are making use of similar app to fight COVID-19. He mentioned that the app is issued in the interest of the public and it could help them identify whether they are nearby a COVID-19 infected person.
The Minister said that the app stores data for a limited period of time and then the stored data vanishes. But the duration of the stored data may vary if the person is infected but it is not going to be there after the specified duration.
However experts pointed out that the govt has said that it wouldn’t take responsibility in case of any data-breach.