Privacy Issues in government backed Apps

Privacy Issues in government backed Apps

Privacy issues are of great concern. This report explains that governments are making their own applications and the IT field lacks awareness on privacy and security issues in government backed Apps.

Background

The recent development in the world of technology has been the emergence of messaging apps and social media networks. These apps are being widely used by consumers and have gained a lot of popularity.

Recently, WhatsApp has rollbacked their privacy policy after facing a huge backlash from users. Many users started switching to competitor apps such as Signal and Telegram. This shows that Indian consumers are becoming more aware and concerned about data privacy.

However, since the first COVID lockdown, at least 35 mobile apps have been launched across India. All these apps specifically address COVID-19 related information. But the privacy issues in these Apps have not been addressed.

Challenges with government technology platforms

If a user is not satisfied with the product, they have no option but to put up with it. As a government run platform, few other options are available to users, especially in regard to sensitive or confidential data.

Governments typically have a monopoly in providing public services. Thus, porting out or digital migration is not possible in that case. For example, there is no alternative to Aadhar, Aarogya setu app.

Most of the COVID-19 apps launched by State governments have lacked consistency in terms of the features, functionalities, and information updates. This is due to the reason that updation of data in government tech platforms carried out manually.

Data privacy is also a cause of concern in many of these government applications. For example- Most of the apps are only informative and intended to issue advisories. But they have sought permissions for location, photos, storage, and camera.

Steps to improve government technology platforms

There are many apps by the government and private sectors but not all of them are serving the purpose for which they have been developed. The authority should work towards a collective database structure by combining two or more state/organization apps. This can prevent multiple unwanted permission requests in apps and can also address data privacy issues. For example, integrating Aarogya Setu app with the State mobile apps to provide integrated service.

A centralized system, similar to Facebook or Google, makes it easier to access and misuse people’s data. It also means that the company itself is responsible for processing and protecting the data, these systems are very rigid. In addition, they may cause an information overload important information may be easily missed in a sea of posts.

By mining data from government websites, various insights are taken from all stakeholders on government-backed technological initiatives. Structured audit on government-backed technological initiatives. The negatives can be rectified and improve public services. The positives, on the other hand, will boost the government as a potential service provider.