Coronavirus lockdown: Aarogya Setu app now mandatory for office workers

Aarogya Setu, which started as a voluntary app, is increasingly morphing into something mandatory. As the central government extended the coronavirus lockdown in India by two weeks starting May 4, it also came out with fresh guidelines on the use of Aarogya Setu app. While for many people the app may continue to be voluntary for people who are employed and work in offices, whether private offices or government, the app has been made mandatory. The government has also said that companies and organizations will have to achieve 100 percent compliance on the use of Aarogya Setu by their employees.

In guidelines issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs, the government noted, “The use of Aarogya Setu app shall be made mandatory for all employees, both private and public. It shall be the responsibility of the head of the respective organisations to ensure 100 per cent coverage of this app among the employees.”

Earlier, the government had made the app mandatory for central government employees.

At the same time, the use of Aarogya Setu app has also been made mandatory by all residents who are in the containment zones during the lockdown. “The local authority shall ensure 100 per cent coverage of Aarogya Setu app among the residents of Containment Zones,” the government noted.

Aarogya Setu app until now was considered a voluntary app, although the government has made a major push for it, asking Indians repeatedly to install it on their phones. The app claims to do contact-tracing in case of coronavirus infections because it communicates with nearby phones using Bluetooth and gathers GPS location data. In case someone catches coronavirus infection, using the app it is possible to do a trace of all the people who came near or in contact with that person.ADVERTISEMENT

The Aarogya Setu app also details whether someone is at risk of coronavirus infection or not, by taking into account the travel history of the user. The government is planning to add an e-pass feature to the app, which is going to be similar to a feature that China’s Covid-19 tracking app has, and it may lead to the app users categorised under green, red and orange status. Recently, there are reports that Delhi Metro will allow only users with green status in Aarogya Setu app to use the service.

The guidelines issued on Friday may cause some concern among employers given that they have been made responsible for the app’s use by their employees.

However, currently, Aarogya Setu app is only available on smartphones and anyone using a feature phone cannot comply with the directives. Though there are reports that the government is working on a feature phone version.

While a lot of governments across the world are using contact-tracing apps, the approaches are different. Most governments are using only Bluetooth functionality to do contact tracing, unlike India which is using both Bluetooth and GPS. Then there is the difference in the way data is collected and processed.

Google and Apple, which power the Android and the iPhones, have created a de-centralised approach to contact tracing and many governments are using that for their apps. But some governments like India are using centralised approach.

The consensus so far among the experts seems that contact-tracing can be a useful tool in the fight against coronavirus pandemic. But it needs to be paired with large-scale testing and other on-ground public health efforts. At the same time, there are efficiency and privacy concerns.

Noted privacy and cybersecurity expert, Bruce Schneier wrote on Friday, “You take the app out grocery shopping with you and it subsequently alerts you of a contact. What should you do? It’s not accurate enough for you to quarantine yourself for two weeks. And without ubiquitous, cheap, fast, and accurate testing, you can’t confirm the app’s diagnosis. So the alert is useless. Similarly, assume you take the app out grocery shopping and it doesn’t alert you of any contact. Are you in the clear? No, you’re not. You actually have no idea if you’ve been infected. The end result is an app that doesn’t work.”

Source (Content and Image)- India Today