Indian Government Launches Aarogya Setu App to Step-up the Fight against Coronavirus

After launching the MyGov Corona Helpdesk recently to fight misinformation on Coronavirus being spread on WhatsApp, the Government of India has now unveiled the Aarogya Setu app. Developed through public-private partnership the National Informatics Centre, the app is available in eleven Indian languages such as Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Gujarati, Bangla and so on. It is available in both the Android and iOS versions.

The developers say that the Aarogya Setu app is aimed at augmenting the initiatives of the Government of India, particularly the Department of Health, in proactively reaching out to and informing the users of the app regarding risks, best practices and relevant advisories pertaining to the containment of Coronavirus. The app will also proactively reaching out to and inform the users about the potential risk of the infection. Users can take a self-assessment test and contact the helpline numbers provided in the app should they suspect that they are infected by the Coronavirus.

Permissions Required by the Aarogya Setu App

Users of the Aarogya Setu app have to give the following permissions in order to benefit from the full functionality of the application:

1. Device location sharing must be set to ‘Always’. The app sore says that since the app may use location even when it isn't open, it may decrease battery life.
2. Bluetooth must be kept on at all times since the app monitors users’ device proximity to another device.
3. User data will be shared with the Government of India. However, the app says that users’ names and mobile numbers will never be disclosed to the public at large at any given time.

The app is compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch and requires versions iOS 10.3 or higher. As far as the Android version is concerned, it requires versions 6.0 and higher. The app is available for download on Google Playstore and Apple App Store.