AAROGYA SETU

Copyright infringement not intended

 

In News:

• The Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology informed the Parliament that the contact-tracing data collected by the Aarogya Setu app has been deleted from the government databases.

Details:

• The Union Government announced that the contact-tracing feature of the Aarogya Setu mobile application (app) has been discontinued and contact-tracing data collected through it has been deleted.
  • The step was taken as per the provisions mentioned under the Aarogya Setu Data Access and Knowledge Sharing Protocol 2020.
• According to an RTI application, the policy of contact tracing was discontinued in June 2022.
• The Aarogya Setu app raised some privacy concerns since its launch in the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
  • The government stated that the app had helped it identify hotspots in individual districts to quarantine and monitor.

Aarogya Setu app:

• The app was launched as a contact tracing platform by the Union Government during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
  • The government’s insistence on the mandatory use of the app for visiting key public places like railway stations, airports, etc.
• Since the easing of the pandemic restrictions, the app has been integrated with the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission.
  • Aarogya Setu has transformed into a National Health App under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM).
• Now using the Aarogya Setu app people can register for Ayushman Bharat Health Account (i.e., Digital Health ID) and leverage the interaction with healthcare providers and receive their digital lab reports from verified healthcare professionals and health service providers.
• Aarogyasetu helps to schedule online doctor appointments powered by eSanjeevani Application.
• Aarogyasetu helps to schedule/reschedule/cancel appointments for covid-19 vaccination.
• Using Aarogyasetu people can download the vaccination certificate or can request changes in the certificate as well.

About Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission:             

• The mission aims to provide a digital health ID to people which will contain their health records.
• Citizens can create their ABHA (Ayushman Bharat Health Account) numbers, to link their digital health records.
  • The National Health Authority is the implementing agency of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM).
• The key components of this scheme, which is also called the National Digital Health Mission or the PM Digital Health Mission, are a health identity card for every citizen, a healthcare professional’s registry, and healthcare facilities registries.
• It aims to create a National Digital Health ecosystem that supports universal health coverage in an efficient, accessible, inclusive, affordable, timely and safe manner.
• Significance
  • Based on the foundations laid down in the form of Jan Dhan, Aadhaar and Mobile (JAM) trinity and other digital initiatives of the government, Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission will create a seamless online platform through the provision of a wide range of data, information and infrastructure services, duly leveraging open, interoperable, standards-based digital systems while ensuring the security, confidentiality and privacy of health-related personal information.
  • It will enable access and exchange of longitudinal health records of citizens with their consent.
  • This will ensure ease of doing business for doctors and hospitals and healthcare service providers.
  • This mission will create interoperability within the digital health ecosystem, similar to the role played by the Unified Payments Interface in revolutionizing payments.
  • It will ensure access to quality healthcare by promoting the use of technologies such as telemedicine and supporting the national portability of health services.

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-sci-tech/what-happened-to-your-data-on-aarogya-setu-8433762/