Arogyasetu - The Health App with doubtful utility!

What is ArogyaSetu application?

ArogyaSetu is a COVID-19 contact tracing mobile application developed by the Ministry of Electronics and IT.  The application detects and tracks the mobile user’s movement with the help of GPS and Bluetooth sensors and sends out a notification if they come in contact with infected people by using its database and algorithms. Users have to enter personal information while registering on the app and the data will be shared only with the Government of India and does not include third parties as mentioned in the app’s privacy policy.

ArogyaSetu will be mandatory for Air travel

From 25th May Indian government is reopened its domestic air travel and made it mandatory for the traveler to have ArogyaSetu application installed on their mobile. So if the status of the ArogyaSetu App is Green and it shows message 'YOU ARE SAFE' then user will be allowed to travel and if the status is Red  and the application shows message the 'You are not safe'  then probably there will be some investigations and traveler may not be allowed to board the flight..

So why did I say ArogyaSetu application should be installed at least 15days before travel

• #ArogyaSetu Guidelines do not mention time frame for installation of the application. 
• As of today it is RECOMMENDED but NOT MANDTORY for every Indian to install the ArogyaSetu app. 
• As per new guidelines if you want to travel by flight then it is mandatory to install the ArogyaSetu app
• Those who do not use mobile phone will have to give a written declaration about their travel history 
• This means before traveling the user will be have to install the ArogyaSetuand but security will not know if the user installed app 1 month back or 15 minutes back as the app DOES NOT show that installation DATE on users MOBILE SCREEN. Possibly the data is available in the backend system
• So for a user who has installed the ArogyaSetufew 15 minutes back the status will always be Green
• The app is not smart enough to inform the security person that the user USER Status is Safe/Green because USER HAS INSTALLED APPLICATION 15 MINUTES BACK  and it is possible that user may be in contact of infected person before he installed the app.
• Bottom line is the ArogyaSetu application can be made more smart and intuitive to security & healthcare personal  

Lets understand the issue that I am highlighting with an example -

For example I have the ArogyaSetu application installed on my mobile but my mother is not comfortable with using mobile apps & she does not have ArogyaSetu installed on her phone. IN future if my mother has to travel by air then she will be told to install the ArogyaSetu App on her mobile or she will not be allowed to travel. Problem is there is no guideline on how many days prior to travel should one install ArogyaSetu application. 
        So my mother can install the app as late as just before reaching the airport and the ArogyaSetu app will show Green Status and message that' You are safe'. The dump app does not tell the security personnel that the user has installed the application just before entering the airport. If the Arogyasetu application did not track the users status for last 14 days (or more) and the Dumb App will still show STATUS as GREEN and there is no way to know that user has just installed the app, say 2 hours back or whatever the time period since installation of the ArogyaSetu application


The way ArogyaSetu works is it keeps a record of your movement and if you happen to come in close contact of a #corona patient then it flags you as a potential corona victim and shows your status as RED or UNSAFE Mind you ArogyaSetu showing RED does nto mean you are infected, it only means you were in close proximity of a infected person.But if you did not have ArogyaSetu app installed and then partied with a person who was #corona positive then #ArogyaSetu application is not smart enough to flag you RED. I am not saying ArogyaSetu application cannot be made smart, I am saying this ArogyaSetu app is not SMART.

So what should we do now  to protect Air Travelers from one infected person on the flight ?

Suggestion shared with ArogyaSetu team, Health Ministry Govt of India & Ministry of Civil Aviation are as follows -

1. A infected passenger traveling on plane is very dangerous so guidelines have to be improved
2. Modify the ArogyaSetu  application and on the main screen show the "Installation Date"
3. Unless the application was installed 14 days back the status of the user should be shown as 'Orange' or 'Needs Further Scrutiny'  because for 14 days since contacting a infected person the person can now show any symptoms of corona.
4. Make it mandatory for users to install application for certain services like Air Travel or travel in AC Train
5. ArogyaSetu team should inform the government the limitations of the application and dependency on installation date tracking and educate them on what INNOVATIVE THINGS can be added to the existing app.
6. Take suggestion and ideas from public on social-media platform. Our people should be free to give suggestions. 

Here are couple of slides to explain the above points

Update - 19 flyers on Air India’s Delhi-Wuhan flight test Covid positive on arrival at Wuhan Question is were these passengers not using ArogyaSetu? How did ArogyaSetu fail to identify the Covid positive patient that boarded flight to Wuhan, China ?