The Union government has discontinued Aarogya Setu’s data access and sharing protocol, as it seeks to convert the contact tracing app into a ‘national health app’. Privacy activists, however, have raised concerns over the security of the personal data which has been collected since April 2020, even as new users download the app every day. … Read more
Amazon said Friday it was acquiring the encrypted messaging app Wickr which offers secure communications for businesses, government agencies and individuals. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Amazon said in a statement it would incorporate Wickr in its Amazon Web Services (AWS) division which offers cloud computing and other services. AWS will continue to … Read more
More than 8.1 million people in the U.S. have turned their iPhones and Android devices into pandemic contact-tracing tools, but it hasn’t been of much use when their neighbors, classmates and coworkers aren’t on the same system. Apple and Google co-created “exposure notification” technology to alert phone users if they spent time near someone who … Read more
BENGALURU: Eight organizations and 145 individuals have written to the Ministry of Health and Family, Ministry of Electronics and IT, and the IT Standing Committee raising serious technical, legal, ethical, and implementation concerns regarding Aarogya Setu and other apps introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic. This joint statement was drafted by the Forum for Medical Ethics … Read more