Aarogya Setu app makes the headlines again for the wrong reasons

The Aarogya Setu application has been making the headlines again and for all the wrong reasons. BN Srikrishna, Former Supreme Court judge who chaired the committee that came out with the first draft of the Personal Data Protection Bill, termed the government’s push mandating the use of Aarogya Setu app “utterly illegal”.

Srikrishna speaking to the media questioned the government asking on what grounds does it have the right to mandate it on anyone as the application is not backed by any law. On May 1, 2020, the Ministry of Home Affairs, after extending the nationwide lockdown, made Aarogya Setu mandatory for its employees of private and public sector offices. It further asked the local authorities to ensure 100 per cent coverage of the app in the containment zones.

The Noida police further announced that not having the Aarogya Setu application would be considered as a punishable offence with imprisonment up to six months or fine up to Rs 1,000. Srikrishna calls the move by Noida police unlawful, further adding that India is a democratic country and such orders can be challenged in court. In July 2017, when the Supreme Court was still examining where the right to privacy should be constituted as a fundamental right, the government had appointed justice Srikrishna to head the committee on data protection. Srikrishna has always maintained that processing personal data for private gains must only be done for clear, specific and lawful purposes.

Whereas advocacy groups have alleged that the government is using Aarogya Setu for mass surveillance especially in absence of any legislation around privacy it has faced criticism in certain quarters about data privacy of people who use the app. So far, 9.8 crore people have downloaded the Aarogya Setu app, which has been made mandatory in the containment zones. The app notifies users if they come in contact with a person infected with the coronavirus. The latest guidelines laid down by the government notifies the procedure of handling of data by various agencies involved in controlling the spread of the pandemic. According to the government, the data can also be shared with universities for research purposes after delinking information that can identify individuals using the app.