Indian officials are repurposing a controversial COVID-19 contract-tracing app to be used as a key component of the country’s healthcare infrastructure. The app, Aarogya Setu, was developed in 2020 by the the country’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and was initially advertisrd as a “temporary solution to a temporary problem.” The government, however, now plans to broaden usage of the app, with a senior official announcing Aarogya Setu will become the country’s sole healthcare app. Citizens can use the app to book appointments amongst other features. The decision follows Aarogya Setu’s rollout being met with significant controversy over the app’s potential threat to data privacy and allowing for government intrusion into healthcare. It stores location data and requires constant access to the users’ Bluetooth, with the app justifying its invasive measure as essential to letting people know if they’ve been near a person infected with the COVID-19.

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