Today, we sent a joint representation to the Prime Minister's Office that is endorsed by 45 organisations and more than 100 individuals against the mandatory use of the Aarogya Setu App dated May 1, 2020. This joint representation becomes all the more urgent given yesterday's direction by the Home Ministry for the mandatory use of Aarogya Setu and for it's "100% coverage" especially in all workplaces. Violation of this direction can lead to criminal penalties thereby Aarogya Setu now not only impacts the data privacy of workers, or can lead to risks of exclusion and misidentification, a person not having it on their phone can also be charged with a criminal offence. This marks a dramatic and clear shift in government policy on Aarogya Setu from, "encouragement" towards coercion and increases the legitimacy of the demands articulated by the joint representation.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://internetfreedom.in/45-organizations-and-105-prominent-individuals-push-back-against-the-coercion-of-aarogya-setu/