Aarogya Setu app has become the centre of debate over privacy & security issues, it was however maintained that all data on the app was voluntary.
New Delhi| Aarogya Setu, the app which is flagged for privacy issues, is a contact-tracing app developed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
A Buzzfeed report alleged that an engineer had cracked the application and skilled all the process to fill in the data. He succeeded to bypass a page that asked personal information like name, age, gender, travel history, and COVID-19 symptoms. Furthermore, requests to access Bluetooth and GPS of the phone were also dodged.
The Twitter handle replied: “Why all this. ONE can always report the wrong symptoms & keep your Bluetooth off to cheat ONESELF. You can uninstall & install again. This is not a hack. You cannot access the personal details of others. Please realise that this APP is to save you & your loved ones!! #SetuMeraBodyguard”
For days, Jay watched with mounting alarm as people in India were forced to install the government’s coronavirus contact tracing app. Then, he rolled up his sleeves and ripped its guts out.
New from me: Indians are finding workarounds to Aarogya Setu.https://t.co/794LXFE8Ng
— ¯_(ツ)_/¯ (@PranavDixit) May 12, 2020
This report comes after an ethical hacker from France, Elliot Alderson had flagged concerns over privacy issues of the COVID-19 contact tracing app.
Also Read: Coronavirus Kills 3 Lakh Globally, Cases In India Rise Above 81,000
The app has nearly 100 million users at present, was reviewed as part of a larger study by a group of MIT researchers. A total of 25 contact-tracing apps from across the globe were reviewed and scored based on how they work, and the government policies and processes that have been put in place around them.
There is a repeated push to get the citizens to download and install the Aarogya Setu app on their smartphones.
The contact tracing app, which uses GPS (global positioning system) to track and record user data, has been red-flagged by a New Delhi-based Software Freedom Law Centre and Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF).
People have also pointed to a lack of transparency, comparing it to exercises undertaken by the Singapore government.
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