Aarogya Setu contact tracing discontinued; data deleted, says IT Ministry

The Centre said on Wednesday that the contact tracing feature of the Aarogya Setu mobile application has been discontinued and data collected through it so far has been deleted.

Aarogya Setu had been used to record details of all the people that a person may have come in contact with during the raging Covid pandemic.

"If any one of them, at a later point in time, tests positive for Covid-19, you are immediately informed and proactive medical intervention is arranged for you," the official website of Aarogya Setu mentioned.

The update on contract tracing was shared by Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

"The contact tracing feature of the Aarogya Setu mobile application has been discontinued and contact tracing data collected through it has been deleted," he said.

Giving further details, Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that approved officials of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, State Health Departments, the National and State Disaster Management Authorities and District Civil Surgeons were given secure access to the data collected through the Aarogya Setu.

"Contact tracing data collected through the Aarogya Setu mobile application has been deleted," he added.

He mentioned that the National Executive Committee, constituted under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, had in March 2020, selected an empowered group on technology and data management for the effective and time-bound implementation of strategies in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic.

"As per a decision of the empowered group, its chairperson issued an order dated 11.5.2020, notifying the Aarogya Setu Data Access and Knowledge Sharing Protocol, 2020, to ensure secure collection of data by the Aarogya Setu mobile application, protection of personal data of individuals and the efficient use and sharing of personal or non-personal data for mitigation and redressal of the Covid-19 pandemic," the Minister said.

The number of people who have recuperated from the coronavirus disease surged to 4,41,51,219, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent.

According to the health ministry's website, 220.61 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide vaccination drive.

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