Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Saturday said those who have problems with the Aarogya Setu app are free to “not download it”.
Hitting out at the Opposition over its allegations that the app is a “sophisticated surveillance system,” Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “If anyone has any issue with the Aarogya Setu app, then do not download it.”
Ravi Shankar Prasad was speaking at a session during E-Agenda Aaj Tak on Saturday.
On Opposition raising concerns of breach of individual privacy on downloading the Aarogya Setu app, Ravi Shankar Prasad said “terrorists and the corrupt do not have any privacy”.
He said that the app, amid the country’s fight against the deadly coronavirus, helps in cautioning a user of any nearby Covid-19 patients and also helps in tracing the contacts of infected patients.
Ravi Shankar Prasad reiterated that small recordings get automatically deleted within 30 days and the remaining data also gets deleted within 180 days.
Responding to a question on the Aarogya Setu app being made mandatory for train travels even though several passengers are not smartphone users, the Union minister said that Centre has come up with Aarogya Setu-IVS for non-smartphone users which only requires them to give a missed call.
“We have come up with Aarogya Setu-IVS for non-smartphone users. People just has to give a missed call after which they will be assisted to set it up on their 2G phones,” Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
He also said that the Aarogya Setu app is a “friend” and Opposition is just creating an unnecessary issue over it.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had earlier said that the Arogya Setu mobile application is a “sophisticated surveillance system” outsourced to a private operator, raising serious data security and privacy concerns.
“The Arogya Setu app, is a sophisticated surveillance system, outsourced to a private operator with no institutional oversight, raising serious data security and privacy concerns. Technology can help keep us safe; but fear must not be leveraged to track citizens without their consent,” Rahul Gandhi had said in a tweet.
The Arogya Setu app, is a sophisticated surveillance system, outsourced to a pvt operator, with no institutional oversight – raising serious data security & privacy concerns. Technology can help keep us safe; but fear must not be leveraged to track citizens without their consent.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 2, 2020
