The Aarogya Setu app developed and launched by the Government of India for tracing of COVID-19 patients, has been hailed by the World Bank.
Launched couple of day after nearly two weeks of testing, The app uses Bluetooth technology and location to track the affected patients.
In a South Asia Economic Focus report posted on Sunday, the World Bank praised Aarogya Setu app. The report noted, “Digital technologies can also be used to monitor the spread of Covid-19. Such initiatives, largely voluntary, have been successful in helping combat the pandemic in East Asia. Incentives also can be provided to those who report symptoms. India recently launched an app, Aarogya Setu, that uses location data from persons’ smartphones to tell users if they have been near someone who tested positive for Covid-19.”
“Privacy concerns can be dealt with by legislating sunset clauses on tracking systems. The region houses many poor and uneducated households that are nevertheless tech-savvy, and the innovative solutions technology could greatly help educate and track contagion across the populations at large,” the report further noted.
NITI Aayog’s Amitabh Kant took to Twitter to post: “India leads the way in contact tracing for Covid-19: privacy first by design, secure, robust and scalable to billion users.”
