MIT downgrades Aarogya Setu to one star in review, says it collects more data than needed

Massachusetts Institute of Techlogy's MIT Techlogy Review has downgred  Indian government's Coronavirus tracking app Aarogya Setu. app suffered a setback as researchers at MIT downgred app rating to one star out of five in its in-house review.  app lost points on parameters of “data minimisation” which implies that it is collecting more data than required.

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Aarogya Setu rated lowly

MIT launched 'Covid Tracing Tracker', a portal to keep a track on all coronavirus trackers across world, assessing applications on a number of bases, such as transparency, minimised data collection etc. It assesses wher application is mandatory to downlo or voluntary, how data collected is used, if data accessed will be deleted later, of data collected will be only specific to information required and if application is transparent in nature - has an open-source code, and abides by policies, etc. 

MIT gives one star every time  application has a positive answer to se questions.

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Aarogya Setu is a mobile application developed by Government of India to connect essential health services with people of India in our combined fight against COVID-19. app is aimed at augmenting initiatives of Government of India, particularly Department of Health, in proactively reaching out to and informing users of app regarding risks, best practices and relevant visories pertaining to containment of COVID-19.

Aarogya Setu uses Bluetooth and GPS connectivity to help track Covid-19 infection. In app, users can check wher y have come in contact with a Covid-19 infected person and app allows users to self-assess ir symptoms as well. Since its launch, it has undergone various updates and has also come under scanner of breach of data privacy. 

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Ministry of Home Affairs amended its guidelines for extended lockdown in India till May 17. In tification issued by MHA, Centre me use of its contact tracing app Aarogya Setu mandatory in containment zones and for all public entity employees. While Centre has hailed app as hering to global standards, several Opposition leers and privacy experts have raised issues with it. Moreover, as  Indian Railways resumed passenger train operations, it anunced that installing government's COVID tracking app- Aarogya Setu was 'mandatory' for traveling passengers. 

Ministry of Civil Aviation has also issued an visory where all passengers who will be traveling via airplanes are required to downlo application. However, it has t me it mandatory to do so. On or hand, travelers will be required to fill up a declaration form. 

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