[smc-discuss] Fwd: Urgent Request : Endorsement on Representation against Mandatory Use of Aarogya Setu for Workers

[Pirate Praveen]

On Thu, Apr 30, 2020 at 4:38 pm, Akshay S Dinesh <asdofindia at gmail.com> 
wrote:
> We should endorse this.
> 
> I endorse this personally as well.

+1 from me as well.

> On Thu, Apr 30, 2020 at 1:08 PM Anivar Aravind 
> <anivar.aravind at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> Can we endorse this ?
>> 
>> ---------- Forwarded message ---------
>> From: Apar Gupta <apar at internetfreedom.in>
>> Date: Thu, Apr 30, 2020 at 12:08 PM
>> Subject: Urgent Request : Endorsement on Representation against 
>> Mandatory Use of Aarogya Setu for Workers
>> To: Anivar Aravind <anivar.aravind at gmail.com>
>> Cc: Devdutta Mukhopadhyay <devdutta at internetfreedom.in>, 
>> <Policy at internetfreedom.in>
>> 
>> 
>> Dear Anivar,
>> 
>> 
>> I am sending below a request for endorsement by individuals or 
>> organisations to representation (developed in collaboration with 
>> labour unions) being sent to the Government on May Day. This 
>> concerns how their livelihood and participation in the workforce is 
>> being made contingent on the use of the Aarogya Setu App.
>> 
>> It would be great if the Indic Project and any of your partners (as 
>> individuals or organisations) can endorse this. Kindly also 
>> circulate it with individual members of your groups and email lists.
>> 
>> To endorse individuals or organisations can send, "I endorse the 
>> Representation against Mandatory Use of Aarogya Setu to protect 
>> privacy, autonomy and dignity of workers during COVID-19 outbreak" 
>> with Name/Affiliation to to policy at internetfreedom.in.
>> 
>> Further details
>> 
>> As you may be aware, some companies (specially some large technology 
>> companies) have made it mandatory for gig workers to download the 
>> Aarogya Setu mobile app and we fear that others may soon follow 
>> suit. The Aarogya Setu mobile app which collects sensitive personal 
>> data relating to a person’s health and movements does not adhere 
>> to data protection standards and there is no remedy available if it 
>> misidentifies a person as at risk of having COVID-19. The lack of 
>> transparency about the app’s underlying code and algorithms means 
>> that false positives could force workers to self-isolate and lose 
>> their income and freedom of movement as a consequence.
>> 
>> 
>> We have explained these privacy and exclusion concerns in greater 
>> detail in the representation we intend to send to the PMO's Office 
>> and Ministries of Labour, Electronics & IT, Home Affairs and 
>> Transport. The representation also seeks measures to provide 
>> financial relief and healthcare coverage to gig and platform workers 
>> during the COVID-19 outbreak.
>> 
>> 
>> The representation is available here: [English Version] [Hindi 
>> Version]
>> 
>> We would be grateful if you could circulate this email in your 
>> networks. The letter is open for endorsement till 8:00 AM on Friday, 
>> 1 MAY 2020. Please let us know as soon as possible so we can 
>> effectively plan advocacy and outreach around it timing this for May 
>> Day.
>> 
>> 
>> Best,
>> 
>> 
>> Apar Gupta,
>> 
>> Executive Director, Internet Freedom Foundation
>> 
>> --
>> 
>> Apar Gupta
>> Executive Director | Internet Freedom Foundation
>> mobile: 9990000256web: internetfreedom.inemail: 
>> apar at internetfreedom.inaddress: E-215, Third Floor, East of Kailash, 
>> New Delhi, 110065
>> 
>> Looking to have sustained conversations on digital rights? Join the 
>> Internet Freedom Forum today. Click here!
>>  _______________________________________________
>>  Swathanthra Malayalam Computing discuss Mailing List
>>  Project: https://savannah.nongnu.org/projects/smc
>>  Web: http://smc.org.in | IRC : #smc-project @ freenode
>> discuss at lists.smc.org.in
>> http://lists.smc.org.in/listinfo.cgi/discuss-smc.org.in
>>