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NEW DELHI: Seeking to address privacy and surveillance concerns, the government said Monday about the nearly 10 million users of Aarogya Setu application, less than 13,000 actually tested positive, leading to pinpointing of people with whom they were in contact and the application was wearing Bluetooth detect emerging hot spots on a scale that was only possible through the use of technology.
The government detailed various measures taken to guarantee the security of the data. Senior officials said Monday that the app had a clear data destruction policy, among other measures, to make it a secure tool to protect citizens. “Location data is used to facilitate containment actions and protect the community. Only 30-day data is stored in the app and positive patient data is also removed from the server 60 days after the cure date. ” Ajay Sawhneysaid the secretary of the electronics and information technology ministry and chairman of the empowered group dealing with data and technology.
He referred to the app’s self-report feature and said it helped track the incidence of symptoms like cough and fever. More people who reported “wrong” in one area immediately alerted authorities to intensify surveillance. That was how budding hot spots could be identified and contained, he said.
“The privacy policy itself has several new features, even compared to the best Internet services that Indians use in hundreds of millions. These include an automated data destruction policy, a clear limitation on the purpose of the Covid-19 effort without exception, and the maximization of data saved on phones, minimizing data transferred to the cloud. ” Amitabh Kant, Director of Niti Aayog, he said to TOI.
While the app prompts users to share the location, it has defined how location information is used, only anonymously or aggregated, and for the specific purpose of identifying access points, and did not continuously monitor the location of any user, authorities said.
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