Arogya Setu App: An Open Source | 27 May 2020
Why in News
Recently, the source code of Aarogya Setu Mobile App has been made open source for software developers.
- It has been uploaded on GitHub which will help in identifying any vulnerabilities or code improvement in order to make Aarogya Setu more robust and secure.
Background
- India launched Aarogya Setu mobile App to augment the efforts of limiting the spread of Covid-19.
- It has an objective of enabling bluetooth based contact tracing and mapping of likely hotspots and dissemination of relevant information about Covid-19.
- Although the app has been resourceful by its users, there were privacy concerns regarding the lack of transparency in the app's code.
- To address these concerns, the government has decided to launch the code-set of the app on GitHub to make it more transparent.
Key Points
- Arogya setu as an open source: Open Source refers to a source which people can modify and share because its design is publicly accessible.
- Source code is the part of software that computer programmers can manipulate its working and function. Programmers who have access to a computer program's source code can improve that program by adding features.
- Significance: Expanding collaboration amongst the talented youth and citizens through open source would help in building a robust and secure technology solution which will further support the work of frontline health workers in fighting this pandemic together.
- Towards this objective, the National Informatics Centre has also launched a Bug Bounty Programme
- Challenges: Releasing the source code of a rapidly evolving product that is being used by million users would require regular maintenance of the source code.
- Regular updates in the app with the new technology would also be a concern.
Bug Bounty Programme
- It has a goal to partner with security researchers and Indian developer community to test the security effectiveness of Aarogya Setu and also to enhance its security and build user’s trust.
- It is aimed at encouraging the Indian developer community to find security flaws in the app and get rewarded Rs 1 lakh.
Way Forward
The availability of the App as an open code would help in the development of a transparent mechanism of availing data from the public regarding the Covid-19. It would address the privacy issue by enabling a robust system in the App by adding new features to it.