Aarogya Setu: Transcending Digital Health Care

03 Jul 2020

What is Aarogya Setu?

Aarogya Setu is a mobile application developed by the National Informatics Centre under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India on 2nd April 2020, to safeguard the citizens of India in our combined fight against COVID-19.

Website: www.aarogyasetu.gov.in

Aarogya Setu mobile App was launched by the Government of India, in order to help enhance the efforts of curbing the spread of COVID-19, with an objective of enabling Bluetooth based contact tracing, mapping of likely hotspots and dissemination of relevant information about COVID-19.

Tools and Aspects

Aarogya Setu App consists of 4 components:

User Status – It informs the user about the possible risks of transmitting COVID-19.

Self-Assess– It helps the user identify COVID-19 symptoms with respective threat level.

COVID-19 Updates– This section is updated with local and national cases of COVID-19.

E-pass integration – While users will not be able to apply for an e-pass using the Aarogya Setu app, they will be able to organize all the e-passes allotted to them at one place.

The app is built on a platform that can provide an Application Programming Interface (API), so that other computer programs, mobile applications, and web services can make use of the features and data available in Aarogya Setu.

How does Aarogya Setu work?

It is aimed at intensifying the initiatives of the Government of India in proactively reaching out to and informing app users regarding risks, best practices and relevant advisories pertaining to the containment of COVID-19.

The app utilizes the data provided by users, to track if you may have come in close contact with a COVID-positive person via Bluetooth and location generated social graphs. It uses contact tracing to record details of all the people you may have come in contact with during normal activities.

Since the app draws its functionality from location and user-generated data, it mandates more amount of data from different locations for improved efficiency. This aspect is pretty much comparable to how Google Maps detect whether there’s a traffic jam in some area based on location data.

The app also consists of features such as the Self-Assessment Test, a complete list of helpline numbers across the country, and a Twitter feed that displays all the latest tweets from the Ministry of Health.

Why use Aarogya Setu?

Safer you – If you happen to make first or second-degree contact with a COVID-19 positive individual, Aarogya Setu alerts you immediately and offers you timely medical help. The self-assessment test also helps you in identifying possibilities of infection.

Safer loved ones- Aarogya Setu enables better safety for those around you with early identification and prevention of potential risk of infection for you and others.

Safer India- The app aids in identifying hotspots, hence assisting in curbing the spread of the infection. It is anticipated that the efficiency of the app will increase with more number of people using it, in order to bring a halt to the pandemic situation.

Privacy, Protection and Security

The key pillars of Aarogya Setu are transparency, privacy and security.

The Government of India recognizes the importance of privacy, security, and community outreach. Therefore, the GOI is committed to keeping Aarogya Setu application tests supporting systems, address, data and network security and other security issues via a coordinated and constructive approach designed to drive the best possible protection for citizens data.

The developers of Aarogya Setu app also acknowledges the security issues. Therefore, the application is developed keeping in mind the “Privacy by design principle”. The App never discloses any personal information related to its users.

Aarogya Setu’s Bug Bounty Programme has been formulated with an aim to partner with security researchers and Indian developer community to test the security effectiveness of Aarogya Setu and also to enhance its security, and build user’s trust.

With India’s policy on Open Source Software, the source code of Aarogya Setu has been made available on open source. Opening the source code to the developer community implies the Government’s prolonging obligation to the principles of transparency and collaboration.

The source code for the application is available for review and collaboration athttps://github.com/AarogyaSetu.

Aarogya Setu App: How to download

Aarogya Setu app is available on both Android and iOS platforms and can be downloaded via respective app stores. While searching for the app, ensure that there’s no space between ‘Aarogya’ and ‘Setu’ or simply type ‘AarogyaSetu’ in the search bar to find the app. The links to Android and IOS version of the app are listed below:

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nic.goi.aarogyasetu

iOS: https://apps.apple.com/in/app/aarogyasetu/id1505825357

For KaiOS (JioPhone): Open the JioStore app on your JioPhone and visit the Health section.

(QR code for Andriod and iOS)

Scan the QR code to download

Aarogya Setu App: How to set up the app

Open Aarogya Setu app on your smartphone
Choose the desired language and click Next (The app supports 11 languages– English, Hindi, Gujrati, Marathi, Punjabi, etc.)
Tap on the Register Now button at the last slide of the information page.
Allow all the necessary permissions
Enter your phone number and click the Submit button.
Enter OTP manually or wait for the app to detect automatically.
Fill in the necessary details such as name, age, gender, profession and your travel history in the last30 days – click Submit.

(Users can also sign up as volunteers in times of need by checking the box at the Personal details page)

Next, the app will redirect to the homepage of the app, where it indicates the level of risk you are in. If there’s a Green mark with a text ‘You are Safe’ then you are in a safe and stable condition.

The Government of India is constantly working towards making the country safer. Aarogya Setu App is designed solely focusing on the health and wellbeing of the citizens. By registering, you can contribute to the common fight against Coronavirus and receive timely alerts, protect your family, friends and others around you from the virus transmission.

Note: Everyone, including researchers and Users of Aarogya Setu, is encouraged to report any vulnerability impacting the privacy and the information security posture of Aarogya Setu application. In addition to security, suggestions for the code change for enhanced efficiency are also encouraged.

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