Adoption of digital technologies amidst COVID-19 and privacy breach in India and Bangladesh

Figures & data

Table 1. COVID-19 Apps in India.

Name of the App	Govt.	Privacy policy Existence and guidelines	Permissions	Data collected
AarogyaSetu	India	Privacy Policy outlines the types of personal information gathered, how it was acquired, who collected it, why it was collected, as well as the reasons for usage.	Camera, location, Bluetooth access	Name, phone number, age, sex, occupation, and countries visited in the last 30 days
Covid Locator	Goa	Privacy Policy was developed using the Firebase app template, which does not include data retention.	Location, phone, call information	Name, gender, home address, and cellphone Number
Haryana Sahayak	Haryana	Privacy Policy states that the data gathered will be maintained in a centralized database in anonymized aggregated datasets for the purpose of managing COVID-19 within the state.	Location, phone, storage, media files	Mobile number, name, location, and results of the app’s quick health checkup
Corona Mukt Himachal	Himachal Pradesh	Neither the app nor the Google Play Store website contains the Privacy Policy that governs the application’s use.	Location, wi-fi, phone, Bluetooth, contacts	Location, mobile number, and paired Bluetooth devices
Test Yourself Goa	Goa	Privacy Policy lays down a comprehensive breakdown of the information gathered.	Device with full network access	Name, gender, home address, phone number, and location
Quarantine Watch	Karnataka	Privacy Policy on Google play store shows an error and does not open which raises suspicion about the policy and data usage.	Location, phone, media files, storage, camera	GPS location, mobile number, address, and gender
MP COVID Response	Madhya Pradesh	Policy indicates that the app collects information through three interfaces (hospitals, citizens, and Government officials).	Location, phone, media files, storage, camera	Phone number, location, patient information, and location
Mahakava-ch	Maharastra	Privacy policy exist however it does not include any data retention restrictions.	Contacts, location, media files, camera, storage, and phone	Name, gender, age, address, current location, contact Information, camera, and call history
COVA Punjab	Punjab	Policy makes no indication of the amount and type of data that must be kept.	Location, storage, camera, and media files	User contribution, personal demographics, location, and device information
Uttarakhand CV-19 tracking system	Uttarakhand	A link to the privacy policy is available on the Google Play Store website.	Camera, location, storage, and network access	Name, gender, phone number, address, district, and location

Source: Google Play Store (compiled by authors)

Table 2. COVID-19 Apps/services in Bangladesh.

Name of the APP /Database/Institution /Ministry	Govt./service provider	Privacy policy existence and guidelines	Permissions	Data collected
Mobile Fin. Services (Nagad&Bkash)	Bangladesh Govt. and Private sector companies	Not declared	NA	Mobile number, name, location, the numbers of family members, if they get any other financial assistance from government, and current income
Surokkha App	Bangladesh Govt.	Not declared	NA (There is no option to click agree or disagree to any declaration)	Location, NID number, date of birth, mobile phone number, specific health information, occupation, current address, and the preferred center for getting vaccination
Testing of Covid-19	Local Government of Bangladesh	Not declared	NA	Name, gender, home address, phone number, and the result and test center of covid-19 test
Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare & Overseas (MoEWOE)	MoEWOE	Not declared	NA	Area of residence, country of destination, date of leaving the country, result of COVID-19 test before leaving Bangladesh, date and type of vaccination taken by the migrant people
Prava Health	Private sector company	Information on traffic data, third party activities on social media, and other personal Information to share with any healthcare provider, and businesses.	IP address, domain Server, type of the device, web browser, user sites, location, and statistical info.	Email address, name, gender, address, cell number, date of birth, mobile number used for banking and credit card information (if paying online).
Intl. Center for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh	Int. health research institute	User’s computer information, IP address, and digital footprint on institutional site, to share with third party.	IP address, domain Server, type of the device, web browser, user sites, and location,	Name, gender, phone number, email address, GPS location
Corona Tracer BD (Shohoz)	ICT Division, Bangladesh Govt. and Private sector	Arbitrary	IP address, domain Server, type of the device, web browser, user sites, and location	Cell number, GPS location, NID Number (not mandatory), information about covid test of citizens, Bluetooth information.

Source: Google findings vetted by interview informants (compiled by authors)

Table-3. COVID-19 apps on five MIT parameters.

Country	Name	Voluntary	Limited	Data destruction	Minimized	Transparent	HDI (ranking)
Australia	COVIDSafe	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes		Developed
Canada	COVID Alert	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
France	TousAntiCovid	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Italy	Immuni	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Japan	COCOA	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
New Zealand	NZ COVID Tracer	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Singapore	TraceTogether	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Saudi Arabia	Tabaud	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Turkey	Hayat Eve Sığar	No	No	No	Yes	No		Developing
India	AarogyaSetu	No	Yes	Yes	No	No
Bangladesh	Corona Tracer BD	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Ghana	GH COVID-19 Tracker	Yes	No	No	No	No
Mexico	CovidRadar	Yes	No	No	No	No
Philippines	StaySafe	Yes	No	No	No	No

Source: compiled by authors from link https://www.technologyreview.com.