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Kerala HC seeks govt response on plea against Aarogya Setu
On April 29, the app was made mandatory for all central government employees. On May 1, it was extended to all employees employed in private and public institutions.
The Kerala high court on Friday sought the response of the central government to a plea challenging its May 1 directive to make the mobile application, Aarogya Setu, mandatory for all persons working in government and private companies.
The bench headed by justice Shaji P Chaly, however, did not stay the government directive but asked authorities to file a response by May 12.
The petitioner, John Daniel, who is the general secretary of the Thrissur district Congress committee, challenged the government’s order, alleging that it violates the privacy and autonomy of an individual. He submitted that Aarogya setu collects personal information without the consent of an individual.
He also pointed out that the Centre’s directive asked states to act under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against anyone who does not install the app. Section 188 states that any person who disobeys an order given by a public servant can be punished with imprisonment of up to six months.
“If a particular citizen disapproves the use of the same, it could be said that the information was forcibly and coercively taken from him without his consent and by inflicting fear of penal consequences. Such coercive and forcible extraction of personal information from an individual is unheard of in a democratic and republic setup and it is attribute of a dictatorial system,” the petition stated.
The central government launched Aarogya Setu on April 2 to disseminate information regarding Covid-19 and to collect data from individuals. It uses a smartphone’s GPS and bluetooth features to track people with coronavirus infection. It uses bluetooth to determine whether or not an individual has been within six feet of a Covid-19 patient by scanning through the database of cases across India.
On April 29, the app was made mandatory for all central government employees. On May 1, it was extended to all employees employed in private and public institutions.
The petitioner’s argument was that the app is a tracking a mobile application which continuously collects data of an individual once installed on a mobile phone. By forcing people to download the app, there is no question of consent in providing personal information, the petitioner claimed.
Autonomy of an individual is central to the right to life as per the 2017 judgment of the Supreme Court in KS Puttaswamy, the petitioner submitted.
“There arises no question of consent in the providing of information which has been made compulsory. Hence, when a citizen of the Nation downloads and uses the application, complying with the directives [of the central government], there is absolutely no consent obtained from him,” the petition stated.
