Citizen’s Privacy Goes For A Toss As Punjab Govt Puts COVID-19 Patients’ Data Online

How would feel if you if get to know that your neighbour is COVID-19 infected but no one in the neighbourhood seems to know about it, on most occasions, citizens immediately alert the authorities and the whole locality witnesses the embarrassment of that patient? But what if, you are the patient, whose data is deliberately put online due to govt’s callousness and you have got yourself tested, are in home quarantine and adhering to all govt protocols? 

Would you like someone barging inside your house, treating you like a criminal even though you followed all the guidelines? 

Though this nightmare seems to be coming true for 1094 COVID-19 patients, whose private details such as their name, address, and quarantine period details have been put on public display by the Mohali (SAS Nagar) district administration on their website. 

The administration might have put the information for its officers to monitor the patients but putting it out in the public domain without any login credentials infringes upon a user’s privacy and can even give fire to rumor-mongering.

For instance, in Uttar Pradesh’s Banda, a member of the Tablighi Jamaat had to face a lot of harassment from the locals after the administration tested him in April. Thankfully, he tested negative, but until the reports were out, fake news about him being positive was running wild on Whatsapp.

#Gujarat #CoronaUpdates
List of latest 291 #Covid19 positive cases in #Ahmedabad
1/3 pic.twitter.com/jGglbIXa2F

— Kalpak Kekre (@Kalpakkekre) May 6, 2020

(A journalist shared private details of Ahmedabad's 291 COVID-19 patients on Twitter) 

Similarly, releasing the data of over 1000 patients for the public view puts them at risk and needs immediate cognisance of the Punjab Govt and the Mohali administration. 

Earlier this week, the Centre’s contact tracing Aarogya Setu app came under heavy fire due to privacy concerns. In a blog post written on Medium, a French ethical hacker claimed that due to a feature of the app he was able to identify the people infected by COVID-19 inside the PMO, Parliament, and even inside the Indian Army Headquarters, which raised alarms.

Downloaded by 90 million Indians after the Government made it mandatory for all the central employees, the app was launched as a voluntary measure but is now almost mandatory for all after private companies and several state governments had been directed to make sure their employees install the app. In Noida, authorities went further and made it punishable for six months in jail and a fine of up to Rs 1000 for those venturing out without the app.

Without any proper law and safety net, disclosing citizens' private data online might be used to build a high-level surveillance state after the pandemic and make them more vulnerable to hacking and phishing attempts.