Image taken from this wire article
This Indian Government’s promoted Contact Tracing App violates its Citizens’ Right to Privacy
I am quite into the realm of crypto which is part and parcel of Blockchain, and keep hearing about the principles of Blockchain - decentralisation, freedom to own your own assets etc. Imagine how it would be for someone like me to hear about a Indian Government app that does the opposite of it, as if they are China...hee...hee. I am talking about the Indian Government’s contract tracing app - Arogya Setu, that’s been as I read, made compulsory for people to download in their phones - if they are landing from abroad, if they are going out of their homes to work in Government and private enterprises, if they are in containment zones etc.
Such an app, for a person believing in the principles of blockchain technology is an appalling joke, because Arogya Setu App cannot be trusted as it’s a centralised app that infringes or violates an Indian Citizen’s Right to Privacy!!
Government not revealing the source Code of the Aroya Setu App for examination by experts
Image by Darwin Laganzon from Pixabay
Most of the crypto aka blockchain projects are open source software, where the project’s source code is available in the Github repository which is accessible by anyone. However, this is not the case with Arogya Setu app, as it’s a closed source software.
When the app is open source, then it is open for testing, review and examination by experts and others which is essential to evaluate the security of the app. Won’t it be reassuring, if Citizens get confidence that their personal data is secure and cannot be stolen if the Arogya Setu software code has been tested and its vulnerabilities are found out and sorted out?. However, the Government is evidently not open to this.
Also already, the app had instances of at least one security vulnerability where a user’s exact location details got leaked and exposed to google, with some issue with the self-assessment questionnaire. All this happened when the Arogya Setu app has been put into real use since April 2nd since it’s launch. Clearly it’s not undergone any rigorous testing with it’s hurried launch.
Fundamental details of this App has not been disclosed
Image taken from this wire publication
Blockchain projects also have a whitewater explaining the basic details of the project clearly, however there is no whitepaper or literature of the Arogya Setu App provided for the public to understand and trust an app that would collect their personal data from their phones and have surveillance on them, it’s creepy and uncomfortable. There is no clarity for ex on which team or entity made this app, and who in the Government Department gets access to a person’s private Data.
Naturally, this complete lack of transparency should worry anyone who is using this App, that I want to definitely maintain social distancing with!!
Government bears no responsibility for securing personal Data of Arogya Setu App users
Image by S. Hermann & F. Richter from Pixabay
By Chance, even if a user’s personal data is leaked, Arogya Setu’s Terms and Conditions exempts the Government from taking responsibility for it, so if someone’s data is leaked, users are discouraged to take action against the Government for it. This being the case, the Indian Government should not have the right to force its Citizens to download an app, where it cannot be held accountable in case a data leak or breach has happened harming the user.
Possibility there for a non-Covid person to be shown as Covid positive in this App
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Furthermore the Terms and Conditions also limits the Government’s accountability if inaccurate information is provided. So in case the Arogya Setu App gives misleading information reporting a non-covid 19 affected person as covid positive or opposite, Government is not liable for it. Incredible is it not?.
Government Control of user data while the app user has no control over their own Data!!
Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay
It is astonishing that although the Government has control over its Citizens’ data in this case (and many other cases such as Aadhar card), there is no legal protection given out for safeguarding the Citizens’ Data Privacy.
Furthermore, the user does not have ownership and control of their own personal data. They can’t delete their account although they can modify it and even if they uninstall this Arogya Setu app, their data may still remain in the central server and database controlled and scrutinised by the Government.
Indian Government does not even respect the right of its Citizens to have Data Privacy
I find this so primitive, when in the blockchain world there are progresive views on the right for people to have financial privacy, that their finances, transactions should be private, it is no business of the Government to know about a person’s financial dealings, that’s why fungible cryptos like Monero, Dash score right? . I can’t imagine holding such views seriously, in a country that does not even respect it’s Citizen’s Data Privacy!!
Arey, get the basics right with more Covid-19 testing being done practically first!!
Also it’s so ironic, that testing rates are dismally low in India, instead of increasing the scale of testing to a much required larger scale and doing contact tracing through human teams more effectively with 100% accuracy, Government is so adamant in promoting this Arogya Setu App!!
An App can’t keep you safe, you can be safe without it!!
Image taken from this wire publication
Mind you this is in a country where majority of people don’t own Smart Phones to download such stupid apps. Even I can’t download this app with no space on my phone, dammit and I don’t want to after reading so many serious fault concerns with this App. I know how to protect myself without being spied on by some app by following basic procedures that’s needed wherever I am, but can’t argue like that with a Government known to have punished dissenters severely in many cases. India’s current Government lives on instilling fear in people’s minds, but anyway. It’s dark times.
Decentralized Approach could have been adopted - Alternatives there!!
Also, don’t we live in a Blockchain age?. There are decentralised ways using decentralised technology to do contact tracing. I hear Singapore’s contact tracing app does not store their Citizens data in a database, it remains in a users phone and connects with another user when required giving them notifications, this is peer to peer technology for contact tracing. However, the Indian Government’s attitude is authoritarian, even though India is supposed to be a democracy, where in theory they are supposed to put people’s rights and welfare at forefront, in any measure they take.
The current Covid-19 scenario, cannot be used as justification to violate a Citizen’s right to data privacy but that’s exactly what the Indian Government is doing.
Government using Covid 19 as a way to make this Arogya Setu the new normal???
Image taken from this wire publication
The Government is also planning to have this App on people for a long while (at least 2 years). The problem with this is that Arogya Setu should be used only for contact tracing purposes and it should not extend beyond this original goal of Arogya Setu which is contact tracing. Arogya Setu App should not become a new normal, just because Corona Virus is becoming a new normal, an exit ramp clause has to be provided.
Government plans to expand the use cases of an App that is not proven to be secure
However, Government wants to use the Arogya Setu App as an e-pass facility just like China does. Here, people’s stored travel and health history information is availed from the App through QR scanning whenever they board bus, trains or enter airports. This idea should be totally out of bounds, because the Government itself said it is not accountable if the App gives inaccurate information.
Conclusion
It definitely looks like the purpose of Arogya Setu may be surveillance by Government, of its CItizens and it does not look like a credible App to do contact tracing anyway. It is not democratic for the Government to insist on downloading such an App, and dictate it’s terms. What is immediately required is scaling testing, treatment and effective monitoring, besides caring for the lakhs of migrant labourers who have perished due to the lockdown, not due to Corona Virus, but because they were hungry, penniless and got no aid from this heartless Government.
Reference Articles
https://thewire.in/tech/aarogya-setu-app-challenges-rights-based-regime