Aarogya Setu App Finally Made Open Source by Central Government Amid Privacy Controversies

Central government makes Aarogya Setu app open source for review on Android, iOS version of the application to be released within the next two weeks

In a bid to allay the privacy concerns regarding the Aarogya Setu app, the Centre on Tuesday announced it was making the mobile application open source, allowing researchers, experts and developers to understand how it works and the personal data processed through it. Also Read - Apple Fixes Bug That Stopped Some iOS Apps From Opening

The source code for the Android version of the application is available for review and collaboration on Github. The iOS version of the application will be released as open source within the next two weeks and the server code will be released subsequently, an official statement said. Also Read - Hackers Release 'Jailbreak' Tool to Unlock iPhone, Install Any Software on iOS

Almost 98 per cent of Aarogya Setu users are on Android platform, it added. Also Read - Not Mandatory: Centre Highlights Advantage of Aarogya Setu App, Makes it Optional to Download

“The key pillars of Aarogya Setu have been transparency, privacy and security and in line with India’s policy on Open Source Software, the source code of Aarogya Setu has now been made open source,” said the Electronics & IT Ministry statement.

It said that opening the source code to the developer community signifies the government’s continuing commitment to the principles of transparency and collaboration.

“With the release of the source code in the public domain, we are looking to expanding collaboration and to leverage the expertise of top technical brains amongst the talented youth and citizens of our nation and to collectively build a robust and secure technology solution to help support the work of frontline health workers in fighting this pandemic together,” the statement said.

The government has also announced a bug bounty program for the app, whereby the government will pay a cash price of Rs 1 lakh to any developer who finds bugs or loopholes in the application.

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