The Karnataka High Court today asked the Central government whether it was utilizing or storing the data of individuals who had voluntarily downloaded the Aarogya Setu app..A Division Bench of Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Ashok S Kinagi posed this question while dealing with a plea challenging the downloading and use of the Aarogya Setu tracking app for COVID-19..Plea to make Aarogya Setu App use voluntary: Karnataka High Court issues notice, seeks Centre's response.Senior Advocate Colin Gonslaves argued that no data can be collected, even if the users have voluntarily downloaded the Aarogya Setu app."Even the use of that data would not be be valid in the absence of a law to process such data", said Gonsalves..During the hearing, the Bench asked,"Anybody who voluntarily downloads Aarogya Setu App, whether the state government is utilizing the data of the individuals who has downloaded Aarogya Setu App?".Can any service be denied if persons don't download Aarogya Setu app? Karnataka HC to hear plea on mandatory use of app for interim relief.The Court further stated,"Since it is an App developed by the Govt of India, first question is whether data of persons is collected and used by the Govt of India, and if the answer for this question is yes, secondly, for what purpose is the data used and under what authority of law?".Counsel for the Centre, Advocate MN Kumar sought some time to file a reply..As the matter drew a close, the Bench advised the Kumar,"A simple statement you can make, that even if people download the Aarogya Setu Aap, their individual data will not be collected and used by the government or by any other government agency.".The Court then proceeded to grant the Centre time till October 3 to respond on the issue.The matter has been adjourned to October 5.
The Karnataka High Court today asked the Central government whether it was utilizing or storing the data of individuals who had voluntarily downloaded the Aarogya Setu app..A Division Bench of Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Ashok S Kinagi posed this question while dealing with a plea challenging the downloading and use of the Aarogya Setu tracking app for COVID-19..Plea to make Aarogya Setu App use voluntary: Karnataka High Court issues notice, seeks Centre's response.Senior Advocate Colin Gonslaves argued that no data can be collected, even if the users have voluntarily downloaded the Aarogya Setu app."Even the use of that data would not be be valid in the absence of a law to process such data", said Gonsalves..During the hearing, the Bench asked,"Anybody who voluntarily downloads Aarogya Setu App, whether the state government is utilizing the data of the individuals who has downloaded Aarogya Setu App?".Can any service be denied if persons don't download Aarogya Setu app? Karnataka HC to hear plea on mandatory use of app for interim relief.The Court further stated,"Since it is an App developed by the Govt of India, first question is whether data of persons is collected and used by the Govt of India, and if the answer for this question is yes, secondly, for what purpose is the data used and under what authority of law?".Counsel for the Centre, Advocate MN Kumar sought some time to file a reply..As the matter drew a close, the Bench advised the Kumar,"A simple statement you can make, that even if people download the Aarogya Setu Aap, their individual data will not be collected and used by the government or by any other government agency.".The Court then proceeded to grant the Centre time till October 3 to respond on the issue.The matter has been adjourned to October 5.
