How Bluetooth helps in identifying Covid-19 suspects by Aarogya Setu App.
Some ask Question ?
Where is my data
shared by Aarogya Setu app?
How does Aarogya Setu
App work?
How to download
Aarogya setu app?
The Aarogya Setu App
is Government owned application posed as the primary contact tracing tool in
India. Many organisations are planning to include the app in their daily
operations to identify CORONA Covid-19 suspects potential cases.
Online food delivery
services have mandated the use of Aarogya Setu app for their delivery
personnel. The government-owned application Aarogya Setu App is being posed as
the primary contact tracing tool in India. The second phase of the lockdown
during our Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the nation, while
announcing to requested citizens of India to download and use the Aarogya Setu
application to combat corona virus.
The Aarogya Setu App
is available on Google Play Store and has already registered over 100 million
downloads and accumulated around 4 lakh reviews. The application acts as a
one-stop solution for spreading awareness about Covid-19, helping self diagnose
users, provide latest updates and even to store and display e-pass.
However, the biggest
function is to trace contacts and create a reliable network for the government
to identify potential Covid-19 victims.
Working Process of Aarogya
Setu App
First step:
Once a user downloads
Aarogya Setu App their account on the application, the app asks for continuous
Bluetooth access and even location data. The app then asks for some basic info
that will help build data about the users. The information includes age,
gender, name, health status and also asks for the countries that the user has
been to in the past few weeks. The application also asks if the user belongs to
any one of the exempted category of professionals. Then it asks if the user
will be willing to help in times of need.
Second Step:
Aarogya Setu App is a
self-assessment test put forward where the user is asked about their current
health and whether they are showing any of the symptoms of Covid-19. The user
will also have to declare their travel history. In case you're a doctor, the
app will ask if you were exposed to Covid-19 patients. Depending on the
answers, the app will suggest a way forward.
How does contact tracing work in Aarogya Setu App?
In the Aarogya Setu
App access to Bluetooth is key for the app to establish close range proximity
between two people. When two smartphones with Aarogya Setu installed come in
each other's Bluetooth range the app will collect information. If one of the
two people have already tested positive, the app will alert the other person
and in the process allow the government to trace potential cases.
The alerts are accompanied
by instructions to help self isolate and even provide support if you develop
symptoms.
Many organisations
are planning to include the Aarogya Setu App in their daily operations to
identify potential cases. The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) is
planning to include the app in their standard operating procedure (SOP). The
issuance of e-pass could act as the main identification to let people access
important public infrastructure like metro services.
The Government of
India has launched an app, Aarogya Setu, that sits on your smartphone if you
download it, then shares data about you via Bluetooth and GPS to a central
server, which in turn allows you to know if you have been in contact with a
COVID-infected person. An app like this could be very useful at a time like
this, but it also raises questions about the way the data are gathered and
stored, and what happens with them in the longer term.
Lalitesh Katragadda
Said about this Aarogya Setu app
The founder of
Indihood and an iSPIRIT Fellow, an organisation of IT tech companies, formerly
with Google, who has worked on this app; and to Raman Jit Singh Chima, a senior
international counsel with the non-profit Access Now, and co-founder of the
Internet Freedom Foundation, and former India Policy Lead at Google.
The Aarogya Setu App
is very straight forward, it is not a very sophisticated app. There is a level
of sophistication that will develop over time.
Aarogya Setu App have three things:
One is it allows
people to register themselves; answer questions, when they choose to, about how
they are feeling, whether they were in touch with someone who was infected or they have travelled internationally of
which we take this very complicated chart that ICMR [Indian Council of Medical
Research] has created about assessing people and assessing yourself, whether
you are at risk or not, and using very simple chat like questions, it
determines that and tells you immediately whether you are fine or not, whether
you are at risk and need to take some precautions, or you are at a high degree
of risk and need to get tested immediately. That is one thing it does. The
other thing it does in the background, as soon as you register, is it starts
tracking two pieces of information.
One of them is
whoever you come in touch with, who is also using the Aarogya Setu app, by
examining Bluetooth interaction. The actual user information is not shared, a
de-identified-ID (DID) is created to notify you if you have come in contact
with an infected person. Also, every 30 minutes, it measures your latitude-longitude,
which is stored on the phone. The only information that is going to the server
is your self-assessment, specifically when the assessment is showing you are
unwell or at risk, along with the latitude-longitude of where you took the
test, so that if testing or some other intervention is required, the
authorities potentially know where you are.
Aarogya Setu App use of all person
If it so happens that
one of the persons you came across and spent significant time with, the app
will assess that you are at risk, and allow you to know it much earlier than
any PCR (polymerase chain reaction)test may; it will allow you to quarantine
yourself, keep your family safe; and if you were close enough to need a test,
it will advise you to get tested and the health authorities will consequently
help you get tested much earlier.
The other one is that
when you get symptomatic or when you get infected, the sooner you get treatment
the better, before you have this seizure of the lungs (some people are calling
it the cytokine storm; some people are calling it haemoglobin reaction). The
sooner you get the treatment, the more likely you are to recover and get
better. So this is all a race against time and the whole idea of the app is not
that we will immediately see benefits when we install; the idea is that if a
large number of people install, we all use it for the next 15, 30 or 40 days
(however long this crisis takes), whenever the pandemic peaks, the app will
allow us to control, trace and quarantine people much earlier and contain it
earlier than we would otherwise. That is what it is doing both from a back-end
and the front-end.
There are three
parts:
First answer your
last observation. The moment of somebody has a disease, unless they are taking
the phone and running away out of quarantine, they are not going to be “in the
field”. So, detecting someone near you having the disease is unlikely; what is
more likely is that you came in contact with that person before it was
discovered that they have the disease.
That is the reason we
are using Bluetooth.If we have sufficient data from multiple people, who were
later diagnosed as having the disease all using the Aarogya Setu app, it allows
us to very rapidly identify hotspots. Whether this infection happened in a coffee
store or near a kirana store or some other place where people were working, it
will become evident much more rapidly within hours of the disease being
detected in the people rather than within days of tracing work that health
authorities and surveillance workers are doing now.
We have the capacity
to do it today when a few thousand are detected, but the capacity will
disappear, if something like what is happening in Europe happens.
In India’s case, what
we are doing right now is somewhat unprecedented, perhaps more equivalent to
the Chinese intervention in terms of COVID tracing, where there is ratification
from mobile devices, sharing with the central backend, which is also collecting
location data, and not using it for a user to just know what is happening, but
the government or rather the public health authorities can look at potential
hotspot tracking or location tracking. There is much more data that they
collect, perhaps than in many other places.
Lalitesh, said we are
trying to do whatever is necessary. Too much or not, I think time will tell. I
think the more important thing I am focused on is whether this is going to be
effective. That I completely agree with Raman digital for the sake of digital
is pointless unless you make it effective.
See, there are a few
checks and balances that are in the system. One is, the information you are
storing on the phone is only pulled out when it is determined that you are infected
using a virology test. In rare cases when it is determined that you are at very
high risk because of proximity. So that percentage, if you take the entire
population of people who are registered, that suppose tomorrow we have 400-500
million people registered--presently we have 6,000 and even if the number goes
to 100,000--and their cohorts. Presently, we are seeing a cohort ratio of about
3-4. Then at that point, we will have half a million records downloaded on the
server, the rest of them will remain on the phone. We are not downloading
everybody's information and we cannot.
You do not know this,
but the team inside, the volunteer team has been going it day in and day
out--battling it out figuring what is the privacy edge we can walk and what we
cannot walk. I think we have spent more than 40% of the effort battling privacy
and less fighting the code and the app because if we downloaded all the data to
the server and ran this, we would be able to do a much easier job. The
algorithm is very complex because we are minimizing the amount of data that we
are downloading.
One of the reasons we
have not taken the Singapore approach, one of the reasons why we are very wary
of the Apple and Google approach, is that it directly informs the user and
tells them that they are at risk. In a country like India, that can cause mass
panic. So, we are not doing that. We are detecting that if there are a
potential set of people, who might be in proximity, we are going to run that
information by the health authorities. Possibly even, the first few days we get
enough information, we do on-ground testing to see if this algorithm is doing
anything useful or not. If it is not doing anything useful, then we will
discard the data.
Aarogya Setu App is not healthy for a person's privacy:
By IFF (Internet
Freedom Foundation) raised concerns about information collection, purpose
limitation, data storage, institutional divergence, and transparency and
audibility. These concerns come amid affirmative claims by certain sections of
the government and technology volunteer groups that the app was designed with a
“privacy-by-design” approach. The report observed that the app’s privacy policy
“does not specify which departments or ministry or officials will be the ones
accessing that data”, with “a lack of specificity adding to concerns of
overreach.
Even as the govt pushes for aggressive
adoption of its contact-tracing app, Aarogya Setu app, privacy-focused groups
such as the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) are raising alarm over its
compliance with the globally-held privacy standards, while also recommending
privacy prescriptions for these technology-based interventions. In a detailed
report and analysis on contact tracing apps, which ET has accessed and
reviewed, the New Delhi-based IFF raised concerns about information collection,
purpose limitation, data storage, institutional divergence, and transparency
and audibility. These concerns come amid affirmative claims by certain sections
of the govt and technology volunteer groups that the app was designed with a
“privacy-by-design” approach.
Sidharth Deb said,
the IFF’s parliamentary and policy counsel, also the author of the report told
ET, In Singapore, for instance, the ministry of health has access to data of
its contact-tracing app and decision-making powers, besides clearly stating its
purpose of concentration towards disease control and spread. In India’s case,
the disclosed purpose for the app is vague enough for the government to repurpose
it or expand its scope.
Currently, there is
no legal framework that governs the Aarogya Setu app, beyond the privacy policy
and the terms of use.
The report also
raised concerns about Aarogya Setu’s app use of location data via GPS trails
(in addition to Bluetooth), which it adds, deviates from “privacy-focused global
standards”, which are restricted to Bluetooth-based technology, which can match
devices by not revealing the exact location. Such technologies have been in
use, in the case of the Trace Together app (Singapore), and the framework
suggested by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Limitation has become a key point of concern among civil
society activists, that the Aarogya Setu app could be used beyond the purpose
it was created for and evolve into a “permanent architecture” without clarity and
limits. “It becomes problematic when there is collating of data on the central
server, and once that gets entangled with other databases. We don’t know how
long this pandemic will last, but once it is over, the data must be deleted,”
added Deb, while alluding to the Singapore app, which “clearly specifies that
it will not be used to enforce lockdowns and other such purposes.”
There have
been suggestions from certain sections of the government that the data must be
deleted immediately once this pandemic is over in Aarogya Setu app.
What is Lockdown?
A lockdown meaning is
a prison protocol that usually prevents people or information from leaving an
area. The government protocol can usually only be initiated by someone in a
position of authority.
Lockdowns can also be
used to protect for public inside a facility or other external event or then
again other outer occasion. A lockdown ordinarily implies that entryways
driving outside are bolted with the end goal that no individual may enter or
exit.
A full lockdown as a
rule implies that individuals must remain at home where they are and may not
enter or leave a structure or rooms inside this period. In the event that
individuals are in a corridor, they ought to go to the closest protected,
encased room. A preventive lockdown' is a pre-emptive activity plan actualized
to address a strange situation or a shortcoming in framework to pre-empt any
risk to guarantee the wellbeing and security of individuals, association and
framework.
The concentration for
preventive activities is to maintain a strategic distance from perils and dangers
emerging from the non-conformances to the ordinary conditions, yet additionally
regularly remember upgrades for effectiveness.
What is Coronavirus?
Coronavirus illness
known as (COVID-19) is an irresistible ailment brought about by a newfound
coronavirus on the planet. The people groups are contaminated with the
Coronavirus (COVID-19) infection will encounter mellow to direct respiratory
sickness and recuperate without requiring extraordinary treatment.
More established age
individuals and those with fundamental clinical issues like cardiovascular
infection, diabetes, interminable respiratory sickness, and disease are bound
to create genuine ailment.
The most ideal
approach to forestall and back off Coronavirus transmission is all around
educated about the COVID-19 infection, the illness it causes and how it
spreads.
Shield yourself as
well as other people from disease of Coronavirus by washing your hands
following one hours or utilizing a liquor based rub much of the time and not
contacting your face over and over.
The COVID-19
infection spreads essentially through by beads of salivation or release from
the nose when a contaminated individual hacks or sniffles, so it's significant
that you can utilize veil and furthermore practice respiratory behaviour.
Right now all over
universes, there are no particular immunizations or medicines for COVID-19
Coronavirus. Be that as it may, there are numerous continuous clinical
preliminaries assessing potential medications.
WHO will keep on
giving every day refreshed data when clinical discoveries become accessible
there immunization?
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Symptoms:
The COVID-19
Coronavirus influences various individuals in various manners. COVID-19 is a
respiratory sickness and most tainted individuals will create mellow to direct
indications and recoup without requiring unique treatment. The individuals who
have under medicinally conditions and those over age of 60 years of age they
have a higher danger of creating serious malady and passing.
Basic indications
incorporate Coronavirus:
1. like Fever
2. like Tiredness
3. Like Dry hack.
Different
manifestations remember for Coronavirus:
1. Shortness of breath
2. Aches and torments
3. Sore throat
What's more,
exceptionally a few people will report the runs, sickness or a runny nose. The
individuals have gentle manifestations who are in any case sound should
self-confine and contact their clinical supplier or a COVID-19 Coronavirus data
line for guidance on testing and referral.
Realities
Coronavirus:
At the point when
individuals were with fever, hack or trouble breathing should call or meet
their primary care physician and look for clinical consideration.
To forestall / prevent
the spread of Coronavirus COVID-19:
First secure you and
thinking about the realities and playing it safe.
Follow guidance gave
by your local public health agency.
1. Clean and was your hands every day
frequently. Use cleanser and water, or a liquor based hand sanitizer.
2. Maintain appropriate a protected good ways
from any individual who is hacking or sniffling in yours.
3. Don't touch your eyes, nose or mouth over
and over.
4. Always spread your nose and mouth with your
a tissue cover when you going open air.
5. Stay home on the off chance that you feel
unwell.
On the off chance
that you have a fever, a hack, and trouble to take breathing, looks for clinical
consideration. Bring ahead of time clinical group or meet a Doctor.
Follow the headings
of your local health authority.
Keeping away from
unneeded visits to outside every single clinical office are permits social
insurance frameworks to work all the more viably, accordingly securing you and others?
Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF)
Know about PMNRF
In compatibility of
an intrigue by the then Prime Minister, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru in January, 1948,
the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF) was built up with open
commitments to help dislodged people from Pakistan.
The assets of the
PMNRF are presently used principally to render quick alleviation to groups of
those murdered in normal disasters like floods, typhoons and quakes, and so
forth and to the survivors of the significant mishaps and uproars. Help from
PMNRF is additionally rendered, to mostly settle the costs for clinical
treatment like heart medical procedures, kidney transplantation, disease
treatment and corrosive assault and so forth.
The reserve comprises
completely of open commitments and doesn't get any budgetary help. The corpus
of the reserve is put resources into different structures with booked business
banks and different organizations. Payment is made with the endorsement of the
Prime Minister. PMNRF has not been comprised by the Parliament. The reserve is
perceived as a Trust under the Income Tax Act and the equivalent is overseen by
Prime Minister or different agents for national causes.
PMNRF works from the
Prime Minister's Office, South Block, New Delhi-110011 and doesn't pays any
permit charge. PMNRF is excluded under Income Tax Act, 1961 under Section 10
and 139 for bring purposes back. Commitments towards PMNRF are advised for 100%
reasoning from assessable salary under segment 80(G) of the Income Tax Act,
1961. Executive is the Chairman of PMNRF and is helped by Officers/Staff on
privileged premise.
Modi's PM CARES could
be a progressively fair and sacred method for building a stash for emergency
circumstances like the present Coronavirus pandemic and for different
exigencies later on than the PMNRF was till date.
PMNRF was being
administered by an overseeing panel that additionally comprised of an agent
from India's private business area, as initially conceived by Nehru till 1985.
Since 1985, when Rajiv Gandhi was the PM, the administration of the store was
depended totally with the leader. From that point forward, the PM has had the
sole watchfulness of selecting a secretary to deal with the store. No different
office or staffs is distributed for overseeing PMNRF. Dealing with the store is
a privileged capacity and no different compensation is paid for it.
You can donate in Prime
Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF) at
this site --
or