MHA dilutes provision on use of Aarogya Setu app

New Delhi: The Centre’s latest guidelines has diluted the contentious clause that made use of Aarogya Setu app mandatory. Instead, it has asked people to follow health ministry guidelines, ET has learnt. MHA had on Sunday issued standard operating procedure for travel of Indians stranded abroad who wanted to return.

In its initial SOP on movement of Indians stranded abroad, on May 5, the Ministry of Home Affairs had said “all passengers shall be asked to download Aarogya Setu app on their mobile devices.” On May 24, MHA revised guidelines dropped the provision. However, the use of app will be “mandatory” in “exceptional cases” where receiving state permits home quarantine for 14 days. They include cases of human distress, pregnancy, death in family, serious illness and parents accompanied by children below 10 years. All incoming passengers would undergo mandatory check for 14 days — 7 days institutional quarantine at one’s own cost followed by 7 days isolation at home — according to the health ministry.

MHA had removed the clause on mandatory use of Aarogya Setu app for workplaces earlier. The SOP on May 1 (during lockdown 3) had recommended mandatory use of the app at workplace, both public and private. However the same did not figure in directives issued for lockdown till May 31.

The Aarogya Setu app has faced flak for its potential privacy and security flaws. Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (Cert-In) in a recent advisory highlighted phishing scam related to the app. “Scammers impersonate as HR department CEO or any other known person and targets users by spreading messages as “your neighbour is affected”, “See who all affected”, “Someone who came in contact with you tested positive”, “recommendations to self isolate”, “guidelines for use of Aarogya Setu app,” the Cert-In under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology stated. The app has become most downloaded in the country after its launch, with over 90 million users.