Aarogya Setu 'most secure' app on smartphones: Govt

Amid concerns over security and privacy issues over Aarogya Setu app, the government on Monday said it was designed to be the “most secure” mobile applications on any smartphones.

“Of all the apps you use, Aarogya Setu has been designed to be the most secure,” Ajay Sawhney, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, and Chairman of the Empowered Group 9, told reporters here.

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His comments come in the wake of a French cybersecurity expert raising concerns over security and privacy of user data on the Aarogya Setu app.

Sawhney said Aarogya Setu app uses location data of only those persons who have tested positive for COVID-19 and their data is deleted from the servers 60 days after they have recovered.

As on Monday, the app has been downloaded by 9.8 crore users of which only 13,000 were tested positive through the app. “Only the data of those testing positive is on the App servers. The data of everyone else is safe on their phones itself,” Sawhney said.

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Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had alleged that the Aarogya Setu app was a “sophisticated surveillance system, outsourced to a private operator, with no institutional oversight”.

“There is no possibility of surveillance or misuse of the app,” Sawhney said.

He said that from the data of the 13,000 coronavirus-positive users, the government has managed to trace 1.37 lakh persons who came in touch with them. He also said the government has been able to identify 697 potential hotspots with the help of the app.

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Sawhney said the app identifies every user through a unique randomised anonymous device id assigned to him during sign up.

“All communications between two devices and between device and server are done using device ID. No personal information used for any communication,” he said.