Prasad rejects Rahul's criticism, says Aarogya Setu app not outsourced to any private operator

Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Saturday hit out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his remarks terming the Aarogya Setu app as "a sophisticated surveillance system" and rejected his accusation that it has been outsourced to private operator.His response came hours after Gandhi said that the Aarogya Setu app is a sophisticated surveillance system, outsourced to a private operator with no institutional oversight and raises data security and privacy concerns.

Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Saturday hit out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his remarks terming the Aarogya Setu app as "a sophisticated surveillance system" and rejected his accusation that it has been outsourced to private operator.

Prasad, who is Communications, Electronics and IT Minister, said Gandhi should stop "outsourcing" his tweets to "cronies who do not understand India".

"Aarogya Setu is now being appreciated globally. The App is not outsourced to any private operator. Mr. Gandhi really high time that you stop outsourcing your tweets to your cronies who do not understand India," Prasad said in a tweet.

His response came hours after Gandhi said that the Aarogya Setu app is a sophisticated surveillance system, outsourced to a private operator with no institutional oversight and raises data security and privacy concerns.

The Congress leader said in a tweet that technology can help people stay safe but fear must not be leveraged to track citizens without their consent.

"The Arogya Setu app, is a sophisticated surveillance system, outsourced to a pvt operator, with no institutional oversight - raising serious data security & privacy concerns. Technology can help keep us safe; but fear must not be leveraged to track citizens without their consent," Gandhi said.

Earlier in the day, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar had said that Aarogya Setu app is the best scientific instrument to alert people if some COVID-19 infected person is nearby and there should be no concern over privacy related issues.

( With inputs from ANI )